Shadows of the Past
by HauntedVampyre
Summary: Chelsea lives in fear that her early life will repeat itself and her father would come back to haunt her. Vaughn wishes he could forget his past completely. Then they meet! Read and review. Rated T. I don't own Harvest Moon or its characters.
1. Journey

_Ever since Chelsea was born, she was hated and abused by her own father. He would never lay a finger on her when her mother was around but whenever she out the house, Chelsea's father would lay into her. When she was a newborn he had only yelled at her, but then he started hitting her and as she grew older he would use sharp objects, such as glass bottles. But one day, Chelsea's mum came home from work early because she had been feeling ill. She walked into the house, only to discover her husband hurting their three-year-old daughter with a glass bottle. She was horrified and divorced from her husband, shutting him completely away from their lives. Chelsea hadn't heard from him for sixteen years but she cannot forget about him completely. After all, how can she when her arms are patterned with scars?_

_Vaughn grew up never knowing who his parents were. He had been taken in by some people who lived in the same valley as him and they told him about them. His mother had died in childbirth and his father had gone crazy with grief over her death. Even though it wasn't his fault, he blamed his son. He abandoned him and committed suicide. Vaughn felt like he never fit in. He was teased for having unusual white hair and pale violet eyes, as well as not knowing who his parents were. He quickly became anti-social, blocking people out, and he took to wearing a cowboy hat to hide his hair. But he secretly longed to have someone who would accept him._

CHELSEA'S POV:

"Are you sure, Chels? I mean, you're only nineteen. You don't have to go yet," Jake said as we stood on the dock waiting for the ferry. I turned and hugged him.

"Of course I'm sure. I've been looking for my own place for a while now and you want to go travelling so we'll be fine!" I reassured him. Jake grinned.

"I guess you're right. Good luck then Chels."

As the ferry came into the docks I picked up my bag and hugged my brother one more time. He kissed the top of my head and then I stepped onto the ferry. I waved as we moved away from the docks, away from the city.

I walked inside and looked at the number on my key. Room 263. It took me a while but I eventually found my room. I could hear a man and woman arguing in the room next to me and I wondered if they were a married couple. That made me think of the earliest memory I had: the night my mum kicked my dad out of the house.

He never said why he hated me so much. My brother thought it was because he didn't want to have a girl. Jake is six years older than me and he can remember our father more clearly than I can. Apparently I was "the spitting image".

It was just my mum, Jake and I living together in our flat. Then Jake went to University, moved out, and got a job. After he finished Uni he worked full-time, saving up money because he wanted to travel. I stayed at the flat with Mum.

One day though, my world abruptly shattered. It was just an ordinary Saturday evening, when I was seventeen. Mum and I were watching a film and then my mum fell asleep. She slept through the whole thing and when it finished I turned it off and told her I was going to bed. She didn't answer. I spoke to her more, even calling her by her name. I got no response. Then I touched her face. She was stone cold and wasn't breathing.

I managed to keep it together long enough to phone my brother and he promised to come over straight away. He was shocked but he held me and comforted me and helped me sort myself out. I lived with him after that and he got enough money to travel and I kept telling him he should go but he felt bad leaving me alone. So I started looking for my own place.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a flash of lightening and a crash of thunder. I jumped up and opened the door and looked outside. Lots of other people were doing the same. An announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Could all passengers please make their way to the deck where there are lifeboats waiting."

Lifeboats. I knew what that meant. It meant that the ship was sinking or damaged. I couldn't swim a stroke. My breathing came out in gasps and I knew I had to calm down or I would start having a panic attack, which would be inappropriate at this time.

I tried to keep calm and thought positively as I grabbed my bag and walked to the deck with lots of other people. As we stepped onto the decks, I could see immediately how bad the storm was. The sky was pitch-black and it was raining heavily and the wind was icy. The sea looked black and menacing. I felt sick. I lost control of myself and my breathing came out in gasps.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked a voice that sounded familiar. I looked and saw a girl who was about my age. I shook my head.

"I can't swim," I choked out.

"Stay with us, we can swim, you'll be fine," the girl said and she brought me over to her family. We were about to get on a lifeboat when lightning struck the deck. Then everything went black.

I felt a weight pumping at my chest. I was cold, shivering all over. I didn't seem to be in water but I was soaked to the bone. I seemed to be lying on something wet and grainy.

"Are you all right? Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" a man's voice said. My chest was pumped one more time and I coughed, feeling water come out of my mouth as I did so. I coughed again and then I couldn't stop. My eyes flew open and the first thing I saw was an old man's shocked face. Then it smoothed out and he turned my face over to the side. I suddenly coughed up a disgusting mix of phlegm and salt water. The oldie rubbed my back gently and I tried to calm down. "Sorry," I muttered.

"It's not your fault," He smiled. "By the way, my name is Taro. What's yours?"

"Chelsea," I gasped.

I took in my surroundings. We were on a beach on some kind of island. I wanted to ask what had happened but my throat was too dry from all the salt water.

A woman suddenly came onto the beach. She had long hair that looked pink in the sunlight and a kind expression.

"Hi Dad," she said, before looking at me. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," I croaked. Boy, I needed a drink.

"Chelsea, this is my daughter Felicia. Felicia, this is Chelsea."

"Nice to meet you Chelsea," Felicia smiled.

A boy and girl walked down onto the beach. The girl looked familiar, with short pink hair and brown eyes. The boy was an inch taller with brown eyes and glasses. His hair was darker than Felicia, or the girl standing next to him.

"Chelsea, this is my son and daughter, Elliot and Natalie," Felicia said to me.

"Hi," I gasped, unable to say anything else.

Natalie came running over and knelt down beside me. "Sorry," she said, smiling a little. "I didn't think the lightning would strike the deck." I was about to ask what she was apologising for but then I realised: she was the girl who had asked if I was OK.

"I don't like the colour she's turning," Elliot said. "We should take her inside."

I suddenly realised that it was Elliot and Natalie who I had heard arguing in the room next to me, not a married couple.

Felicia and Natalie helped me stand up and Natalie handed me my bag. It had survived, thank God. Natalie put her arm around me in case she thought I would fall and they lead me to a house. They got me a drink and helped me get warm. I didn't have to worry now. I was here and I was alive.


	2. Islanders

"Are you feeling OK now, Chelsea?" Felicia asked. I was sitting on the sofa in their house whilst drinking a glass of water.

I nodded. "Much better." My voice was clearer now but I was _freezing._ Not to mention dripping wet and covered in a mix of sand and salt.

Taro entered the room. "Chelsea, are you well enough to come with me? There's something I want to show you," he said. I nodded and drained the glass before standing up and following him outside. I looked around. There were at least three other buildings that were in bad condition, a broken bridge on one side of the island and a massive rock on the other side that blocked the road.

Taro led me up the little hill to a place that looked a lot like a farm. "I think this place used to be a farm," Taro said. "Chelsea, are you into farming?"

"I've never done it," I said. Then something sank in. "Are you saying that I should run the farm?"

"Only if you want to," Taro said. "I used to run a farm in my younger days so I can help you out with anything if you want."

I thought about it. "OK then."

Taro smiled widely. "And you can live in that house over there," he said, indicating to a tiny little house.

Taro walked off and I suddenly felt a little annoyed about the tiny house I had been left with. Maybe I could somehow do something about it? But right now I didn't care too much. I walked inside and was relieved to discover that it at least had a bathroom, kitchen, living room and a bedroom.

After showering I took my pyjamas out of my bag. They were soaking wet, as was everything else. I sighed. Now I would have to find somewhere to wash and dry them. And I would have to sleep in my underwear but that was OK.

I climbed out of my wet clothes and collapsed into the bed. I was out in seconds.

"Chelsea, are you awake? CHELSEA!" Taro was whacking at the door. I scrambled out bed and was about to answer it when I realised I was just in my underwear.

"I'm coming!" I shrieked and rummaged in my bag before I found my dressing gown and put it on. I rushed to the door and opened it.

"A ship came to the beach," Taro told me. "Everyone else is down there."

I nodded. "Just give me ten minutes to get dressed," I said breathlessly.

Ten minutes later I walked down to the beach where Taro's family were waiting along with two other people. Taro glared at me and said, "You took your time." He turned back to the two new people on the beach and I stuck my tongue out behind his back. Elliot and Natalie spluttered. Felicia hid a smirk.

The two new people on the beach were Asian-looking males. The man was called Chen and he had black hair and a moustache and beard. His son was called Charlie and looked like his dad, but minus the facial hair because he was about ten. They talked about opening up a shop on the island. They would stock crop seeds for me and Taro said that his family would work in the shipping business. Elliot and Natalie exchanged a look of horror.

Chen and Charlie found an empty building that they set up as their shop. Taro went back inside his house and Felicia had gone into town on the ship, leaving me and Elliot and Natalie standing together. The minute we were alone they both started complaining about the shipping business until I was laughing my head off.

For the next few days Taro would wake me up at the crack of dawn every morning to teach me about farming. I picked it up quickly and started growing good crops.

A carpenter moved onto the island with his daughter. The man was called Gannon and he was absolutely MASSIVE. He wasn't fat, he was very muscled. He had tufts of grey hair and was hunched over.

His daughter, Eliza, was the opposite. She looked about Charlie's age and had short curly blonde hair. She was very pretty and seemed very aware of this and was a little full of herself.

A few days after them, Mirabelle and Julia moved in. Mirabelle was quite round and she had sky-blue eyes and short blonde hair. Her daughter was much thinner and had the same sky-blue eyes and long wavy blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She had big boobs and her clothing only accentuated them: a short vest top that was low-cut and showed off her flat stomach and very short shorts. They lived next door to Natalie and Elliot and we became good friends.

It was the sixteenth when he showed up. I was having breakfast when there was a knock at my door. I opened it and found a man dressed like a cowboy: black Stetson, black shirt, brown and beige vest, black jeans and black boots. His black clothes looked good against his pale skin. I looked up to his face and could see tufts of silver hair underneath his hat and pale violet eyes. Strange combination.

"I'm Vaughn," he said. "I'll be working at the animal shop a few days a week."

"I'm Chelsea," I said, offering my hand. Vaughn looked a little surprised but he shook it.

"See you," he said and walked away.


	3. Embarressing lunch

**Author's note: OK I kept forgetting to put these up on the other chapters! Please don't laugh at me it's my first fanfic and I'm kind of new to all this! OK so this is chapter three and thanks to those who review! It means a lot to me!**

I walked down from my farm into the town. Julia and I had arranged to meet at the new diner and have lunch. I looked at the ground as I walked. I didn't do this for any particular reason; it was how I always walked. People always said that it would be better to look up because then I could see where I was going but I felt that if I looked up I couldn't see if there was anything to trip over.

They were probably right though. As I was walking I smacked into someone who was also staring at the ground. I looked up sharply…and realised I had smacked into Vaughn.

"Sorry!" I yelped. "I'm so sorry, it's my fault, I didn't look where I was going, I'm sorry!"

Vaughn looked a little surprised at my outburst. "It's ok…don't worry," he muttered, gruffly.

I nodded. Vaughn looked at me. I felt a little awkward.

"So…uh…see you round," I muttered, blushing like a twit.

"Yeah," Vaughn muttered and walked away. I walked in the opposite direction. I think we both felt a bit relieved.

Julia was waiting for me outside the diner.

"Why are you blushing?" she asked.

"I'm not blushing," I said.

"You are!" Julia smirked. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

I scowled at the floor. Julia would never let this go until I told her.

"I bumped into Vaughn. Quite literally," I muttered.

Julia shrugged. "That's not so bad. Unless…" she gasped, "Oh my Goddess, do you fancy Vaughn?"

"No!" I spluttered. I probably looked as if someone had thrown three pounds of tomatoes in my face.

We walked into the diner and found Natalie ordering something at the counter.

"Hey Natalie," Julia said, dragging me over there. "Isn't Chelsea blushing?"

"Like hell," Natalie smirked. Okay, make that four pounds.

"Can we just order?" I growled. Julia and Natalie laughed.

Julia ordered noodles, Natalie and I ordered curry rice. We sat down at a table. I didn't say anything because I didn't want the conversation to go back to the whole Chelsea-bumped-into-Vaughn-I-bet-she-fancies-him thing.

"So Chelsea, when did you bump into Vaughn?" Natalie grinned. Crap.

"Sort of…uh…between your house and Julia's house," I muttered, staring at the table.

"Do you really fancy him?" Natalie giggled.

"No!" I snapped. Nick looked over in our direction.

"Sorry," Natalie said. "But seriously, what do you think of him? If you tell us, we'll tell you."

Julia looked nervous and slightly grossed out. I swallowed.

"Well he's kind of…quiet…and doesn't seem to like people…" I said.

Julia nodded. "He's quite anti-social."

"Do you think he's good-looking?" Natalie said, quietly.

I ducked my head so that my hair formed a curtain around my blush. "He's not ugly…I suppose he is…quite…" I said.

"Stop!" Julia said, sharply. Natalie and I looked at her.

"Do_ you_ fancy Vaughn?" I asked, grinning.

"No!" Julia said, looking thoroughly repulsed. "Look girlies, my mum likes to think of Vaughn as some kind of adoptive son and I think of him as my brother so this is kind of freaking me out!"

"Oh my Goddess, I bet you've seen him shirtless!" Natalie giggled.

I tried to spare Julia from losing her lunch and changed the subject. "So Julia, who do you like?"

Now it was Natalie's turn to look repulsed. "She and Elliot fancy each other like mad," she snorted.

Julia turned three shades of red. I was enjoying this!

"We're just friends!" she protested. "He just offered to help me out with work the other day, that's all!"

"Look, guys," I said. "How about we just finish lunch and embarrass and repulse each other afterward. That way we won't draw attention to ourselves over here."

We ate lunch and talked about our lives before we moved to the island. Julia had always been a country girl but Natalie and I had lived in the city.

We paid and walked out of the diner when Julia turned to Natalie and said, almost completely out of the blue: "So, if I end up with Elliot, Chelsea ends up with Vaughn, who will you end up with?"

Natalie and I both blushed. "I don't fancy Vaughn!" I shrieked at the same time Natalie said "I don't fancy anyone!"

Julia laughed. "OK OK," she giggled. We had just entered west town now and I jumped at the chance to escape. "Sorry guys but I have to finish work at the farm," I said, before walking away probably a bit too quickly. I could hear their giggles behind me.

Elliot suddenly walked out his house. "Oh, hey Chelsea," he said. "Are you OK?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. Julia and Natalie are over there," I told him.

Elliot thanked me and walked over to them and I walked up the little hill to my farm. I had made enough money to upgrade my house and had bought new furniture for it, including a dressing table with a large mirror and a computer. I was only a couple of hundred quid short of affording to build a bridge.

I went up to my bedroom and looked at the dressing table and the mirror. Then I had an idea.

I felt around under my bed and found my bag. I unzipped it and took out all my pictures and stuck them round the edge. They were of my family and friends who lived in the city. Then I thought. These "friends" hadn't emailed me or texted me or called me or anything since I moved out. They promised they would stay in touch and I hadn't heard a thing.

I took down half the pictures so it was just photos of me, Mum and Jake. I would take new pictures of people like Natalie and Julia and Elliot and everyone else who would come to the island and become friends with me. Maybe even Vaughn would be up there someday…


	4. Maverick

**Author's note: This one is a bit shorter, sorry. So, read and review! And thanks again to those who have reviewed my other chapters, I appreciate them!**

Vaughn's P. O. V.:

I was wandering around east town just thinking of nothing in particular. Well, at least I was _trying_ to think of nothing in particular but my thoughts kept jumping to Chelsea and that time when we had bumped into each other last week. That moment had been awkward. Chelsea had gone so red it was almost funny.

I kept thinking about Chelsea. Whenever she was in the animal shop and I was there she always said hi. And she always seemed so cheerful all the time. She probably didn't have any worries in her life. Some people get all the luck.

I started walking back towards the animal shop when I realised I didn't have my box with me. It was a small box and it just contained a few tools I needed for my job. I growled under my breath and started to search for it.

"Vaughn?" It was Chelsea. I turned to look at her.

"Chelsea," I acknowledged her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"None of your business," I growled and turned away so I wouldn't have to see her face.

"Hey guys, what's up?" A brown skinned, curly haired man was walking towards us. This was Denny, the fisherman who had come to the island a few days ago. I sighed.

"OK, I lost something. I can take care of it," I growled. Geez, why was everyone so _pushy_? I just wanted to look for my tool box!

"OK…" Denny said. "Let's just file that under 'my bad'." He walked away with his bird nestled on his shoulder.

Chelsea didn't move. I turned to her. "Why are you still here?"

"I'll look for it with you!" she offered.

Why would she do that? No one offered to help me with anything. Probably because when they did I would just bite their heads off. But Chelsea seemed different to everyone else. She looked like the kind of person who would try to help people in need.

"OK," I muttered and noticed that her eyes lit up. Stupid girl. "It's a box of my work gear."

"Sure thing!" Chelsea grinned and started searching. I did the same and came up empty. Oh great. Now I would have to buy a new box and have to find the tools I needed and-

"Is this it?"

I turned around. Chelsea held a small black box in her hands. I nodded and took it from her.

"I could found it but thanks. I appreciate it," I said, pulling my hat down over my eyes.

Chelsea grinned. "No worries! Just be careful, OK?"

I nodded and walked away. As I did so I thought I heard Chelsea say to herself, "He's cute."

No. I must have misheard. Nobody thought I was cute. For years people have made fun of my silver hair and purple eyes.

Then again…Chelsea _was_ different to others. Maybe…what if…she really did say what I thought she said?

"Vaughn, you're blushing."

Oh great. That was my "adoptive sister" Julia. We weren't really related and I wasn't adopted but Mirabelle treated me like her son and she and Julia were the closest thing I ever had to a family. But I wouldn't ever admit that.

I pulled my hat down over my eyes again. "I'm not blushing!" I muttered.

"You so totally are!" Julia giggled. "Was it Chelsea?"

"Eh?"

"I saw you talking to Chelsea just now!" Julia crowed.

"She was just helping me look for something," I growled.

Julia giggled. Under her breath she sang, "You love Chelsea!"

I grabbed a lock of her hair and tugged it. She yelped and slapped my hand away. Then an evil grin spread across her face and she grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside the animal shop. She dragged me over to the counter where her mum was and yanked off my hat.

"Vaughn's blushing, isn't he Mum?" she grinned.

Mirabelle laughed. "I don't know but you do look a bit redder than normal!" she smiled.

I snarled under my breath, yanked my hand out of Julia's grip, rushed up to the spare room where I slept on Wednesday nights, locked the door and collapsed onto the bed.

OK, now Chelsea was on every thought I had. What was she_ doing_ to me? All that had happened was we had walked into each other last week and she helped me look for my tool box. Which I had left on the counter of the shop. I wasn't going to risk Julia embarrassing me again by going to retrieve it.

I sighed. What was it about the girl? Yeah, she had helped me find something but so what? If I had refused to let her help me, she would have just let it go. Why didn't I refuse her help? OK, Chelsea was a bit pretty I supposed. The way her brown hair had shone in the in the sunlight and the way her ice blue eyes sparkled when I agreed to let her help me.

"_He's cute."_

Maybe it was because-aside from Mirabelle and Julia-she was the first person who had seemed interested in me in so many years.


	5. Smiles

Vaughn's P. O. V.:

The island had really blossomed in one year. We had many more residents, including Denny's girlfriend Lanna (she had been a one-hit wonder and she had an interest in fishing. They had clicked instantly), the Vampire and his daughter; Regis and Sabrina, and the midget chef Pierre.

It was mainly thanks to Chelsea. She had made the money from her farm and had built bridges to the forest and jungle. I couldn't help feeling impressed by it. It must have taken a lot of hard work to do all this.

We had grown much closer. I had been in the diner when she came in and she said hi. I said hi back and then thanked her again for finding my tools. Whenever I saw her after that we had longer conversations. She was now a close friend.

Probably the only close friend I had though; everyone else kept their distance. This didn't really bother me but I wondered why they kept their distance when Chelsea didn't. Well, maybe with the exception of Denny who spoke to me from time to time.

I was sitting on the beach at the end of the pier, staring at the horizon, deep in thought. My thoughts were so deep I didn't even hear someone calling my name and footsteps coming up behind me until someone put their hand on my shoulder. I jumped and looked up.

"Oh. Hi Chelsea."

"Hi Vaughn," Chelsea said, sitting down beside me. "Is something wrong? I called you twice and you ignored me."

"I didn't hear you. I was thinking."

"What about?" Chelsea asked, looking up at me. Normally I wouldn't have told someone. But Chelsea…she seemed like someone I could trust.

"It's just that…you talk to me quite a bit. I mean, you're a good friend. But you and Mirabelle and Julia are really the only ones. Does something about me rub people the wrong way?"

Chelsea pursed her lips in thought. Then she said, "Well you could smile more."

It's all about smiling on this island. "What's the big deal about smiling?" I complained.

"Well, for a start, it makes you appear like you actually like people."

"But there are some people who I don't like."

"Just give it a try."

I scowled. Chelsea laughed. "That's not smiling!"

I rolled my eyes at her. She giggled playfully. I sighed. Then turned the corners of my lips up into a tiny little smile.

Chelsea smiled a bit. "Can't you make that bigger?"

Well some people were never satisfied. I dropped the smile.

"I don't need to smile to do my job." I turned my face back to the horizon.

"I want to see you smile!"

I turned back to Chelsea. She had gone bright red! I wondered if she had meant to say that out loud.

"R-really?" I whispered. "No-one's said that to me before."

"Well they have now," Chelsea whispered softly, not looking at me in the eye.

I swallowed. "OK. I'll work on it. If you want it so much."

Chelsea's face lit up, her eyes sparkling wildly. "Thanks Vaughn," she smiled. She stood up to go…but before she left, she swiftly kissed my cheek and then ran down the pier and away from the beach.

I watched her go. She had kissed me. She had kissed me. _Someone had actually kissed me! _I didn't know which was stronger: happiness or shock. My mind was reeling. Did Chelsea like me? And, what's more, did I like Chelsea? I could never seem to stop thinking about her, but that didn't mean I loved her . Did it?

"Vaughn!" Denny called to me.

I looked up. He was walking towards me. "What happened with you and Chelsea?" he asked me.

"We were just talking," I said.

Denny shook his head. "No way man. You are bright red. I mean, seriously. You look like Chelsea just threw every single tomato on her farm in your face."

Did he have to mention Chelsea? Denny smirked.

"You like Chelsea, don't you?" he grinned.

For once, I couldn't answer. Because I had no idea what the answer to that question was.

"What happened?" Denny asked. "Come on, please tell me Vaughn. I won't tell anyone else. Promise!"

I sighed in annoyance. Denny obviously wasn't going to leave until I told him.

"Chelsea said she wanted to see me smile and then I said I would work on it for her and she looked really happy…"

"And?" Denny prompted.

"And then she kissed my cheek and ran off," I sighed.

Denny's eyes widened. "She kissed you? So…does that mean she likes you?"

"I have no idea Denny."

"OK," Denny said. "How about…I get Julia to interrogate Chelsea on what she really thinks of you and then Julia reports back to me and I can tell you?"

I glared at him. Was he mad? "No."

"Oh come on Vaughn! If you find out what Chelsea feels about you then you may realise that you like her!"

"OK," I snapped. "I don't know if I like her and if I did want to found out, I would find out in my own time!"

I stood up and walked away before Denny could say anything else. I stormed up to the animal shop and locked the door of the spare bedroom where I sat on the bed and tried to calm down and rearrange my thoughts.

I was losing my poker face; that much was obvious.

Oh, shit.


	6. The Past

Chelsea's P. O. V:

I looked forward to Wednesday's enormously, but I always felt a little nervous as well. OK, I had an interest in Vaughn. I had plucked up my courage to kiss him last week and he had gone almost completely scarlet. I was pretty sure he liked me but just as a friend; he didn't seem interest in romance. Still, I could dream, couldn't I?

This one Wednesday I was just wandering around the island, and then I decided to go into the meadow. It was a nice day, maybe I could sun bathe.

When I got there, though, it was already accompanied. By Vaughn. I took a breath and walked up to where he was lying on the grass.

"Hi."

"Oh. Hi Chelsea," he said, looking up at me. He even gave me a small smile as he did so, which made me happy.

"Enjoying the sun?" I asked. He had taken off his hat and didn't seem to have his vest. Only the two middle buttons of shirt were done up.

"Yeah," Vaughn said. He indicated me to come and sit beside him, which I did.

"Don't you ever get hot in the summer?" I asked, looking at his hat.

Vaughn shrugged. "The heat doesn't bother me really."

I lay down beside Vaughn and stretched my arms out in front of me. My sleeves slipped down a little.

"What happened to your arms?" Vaughn gasped.

_CRAP._ Vaughn had seen the scars on my arms from when I had been abused all those years ago. I hated showing them in public.

I sighed. "It's a very long story," I muttered, sitting up.

Vaughn sat up next to me. Then he gently took my wrist and pulled my sleeve up a little more, his eyes widening when he saw my scarred skin.

I swallowed. "When I was born, my father hated me. We don't know why; he never said. My brother thinks it may be because I'm a girl.

"Anyway, he hated me. He wouldn't touch me when I was a new born and this always worried my mum. Then when she said she wanted to go back to work, he offered to stay home to take care of me and Jake, and this made her happy because he never went near me before. But what she didn't know was that he was using this as an opportunity to take it out on me."

I glanced at Vaughn. His face was pale.

"He didn't hurt me when I was a baby, he would just shout a lot. But as I got a bit bigger he started slapping me around. And then he started using things like…like…glass bottles."

A tear ran down my face and Vaughn gripped my hand.

"He told me and my brother not to tell and he threatened us if we did. But one day my mum came home from work early because she ill…and found him smashing glass into my arms."

"Please tell me she got rid of him," Vaughn said hoarsely. I nodded.

"She kicked him out immediately. She was absolutely horrified. She filed for a divorce and got full custody of Jake and I. Except, I think a part of her still loved him and so she didn't say anything about the child abuse. And so the police didn't get involved and we haven't heard from him since."

I looked up at Vaughn, tears falling from my eyes.

"I know this might sound…crazy, but…I'm scared that…that he'll find me again. I'm scared that he'll try and kill me." I was sobbing now. Vaughn put his arm around my shoulders tightly.

"I don't think that's crazy," he said softly. "I would be scared if that was me."

I buried my face in his chest and took deep breathes to calm myself down. Vaughn brushed the tears off my face.

I tried to distract us. "Can I ask what you're childhood was like?" I asked him.

Vaughn sighed. "Well my parents died when I was a baby and I lived in an orphanage."

"Oh Goddess…" I whispered. Vaughn nodded.

"All through my school life I was bullied for not knowing who my parents were and for having such strange coloured hair and eyes. I mean, white hair and purple eyes: not exactly common! That's why I became so anti-social: because I was so used to being wound up for things that weren't my fault, I just snapped at people all the time. It kind of makes me feel like I don't fit in. It sucks."

He hung his head. I rested my head against his shoulder. "I guess we've both had pretty painful pasts," I murmured.

Vaughn nodded and then we hugged. "Thanks for listening," he whispered in my ear.

"You too," I whispered.

I wanted to kiss him again. But I was afraid of how he would react. I thought of him as one of my best friends. I hadn't even told Julia and Natalie about my father.

I looked up at Vaughn. "I like your hair and eyes," I whispered. A light blush suddenly spread across his face and he ducked his head.

"Someone's coming," he said suddenly, and let go of me.

Sure enough, a boy walked in to the meadow. He looked around our age: twenty or twenty one. He had green eyes, a blue baseball cap and scruffy blonde hair.

"Hey," he said, cheerfully. "I'm Mark."

"Hey, I'm Chelsea," I smiled.

"Vaughn," Vaughn grunted.

"Hiya," Mark said. "I'm staying at the island hotel." He looked at me. "Are you the farmer?"

"I am," I nodded.

"Oh cool! I used to live on a farm you know."

"Oh really?" I grinned. I glanced at Vaughn next to me and couldn't help noticing he looked slightly annoyed.

"Hey Chels could you…uh…show me around?" Mark asked.

"Of course!" I said, standing up and walking over to him. I glanced behind me at Vaughn who had also stood up and was putting on his hat and doing up the rest of his buttons.

"Uh…see you round, Vaughn," I said

Vaughn nodded, "Yeah," he said and walked away, without a backward glance.


	7. Unknown feelings

**Author's note: Thank you again all those who have reviewed! So this is chapter seven. I'm sorry guys I didn't know what to put for this chapter so it's probably not great. I'm sorry! I don't own Harvest Moon or My So-Called Life (that's a book by Joanna Nadin)**

Vaughn's P. O. V.:

I still couldn't believe that Chelsea's father had done that to her. I remembered when she stretched out next to me and her sleeves had slipped down, showing the scars. The sight of her ravaged arms had scared me and sickened me. I couldn't see how anyone could hurt a child like that. I remembered when I had seen Chelsea and thought she had no worries. How wrong I seemed to be.

It felt nice when she hugged me; and not just because of the comfort factor. I liked having her in my arms, her head on my shoulder. Her hair smelled nice, somewhat floral.

And then when that Mark guy showed up and introduced himself, I hadn't liked the way he looked at Chelsea. And I didn't like it when he asked her to show him around. I mean, who would ask someone who they only met five seconds ago to show them around? I wouldn't. (OK, I wouldn't have asked _anyone_ to show me around, but still.)

But at the same time, there wasn't really anything wrong with it. Mark didn't look dangerous, it seemed like he just wanted to be friends. So why did it annoy me so much?

Julia talked about Mark on Thursday afternoon.

"Have you seen the new guy?" she gushed, her eyes twinkling.

"You mean Mark?" I asked, looking up from a book.

"Yeah, him. Isn't he hot?" she sighed, looking dreamy.

I raised an eyebrow. "You liked Elliot yesterday."

"Yeah, and I do still like him, I was just saying," Julia retorted. "Is that my book you're reading?"

I showed her the cover: _My So-Called Life_. "You're always going on about how hilariously funny it is."

"Isn't it though?"

"No."

Julia snorted and then sat beside me on the sofa. "So when did you meet Mark?" she asked.

"I was in the meadow yesterday with Chelsea-"

"You were with Chelsea?"

Oops.

"We're_ friends._ We were just chatting when Mark showed up and introduced himself and then Chelsea went to show him around."

"You look annoyed."

Geez, why was I suddenly showing emotion? And why was I showing emotion _now,_ in front of my blonde "adoptive sister"?

"Why would I be annoyed?" I asked, warily.

"Maybe you _like_ Chelsea and you're jealous of Mark," Julia giggled. She had that I'm-going-to-embarrass-you-until-you-spill-everything-out-to-me look about her.

"I don't_ like_ Chelsea. I just think it's kind of weird that you would ask someone who you met one second ago to show you around."

"No, you like Chelsea." Julia insisted.

"No I _don't_, we're just _friends,_" I growled.

"Then why have you gone bright red?"

I didn't want to hear it. I threw the book at her and left the animal shop.

I was just loitering outside when who should walk by but Chelsea herself. She grinned when she saw me and came skipping over.

"Hey Vaughn," she said.

"Hi. Where are you off to?"

She blushed, "Well actually Mark asked me if I would have dinner with him at the diner today," she said quietly.

I worked to keep a straight face. "So are you…together?"

Chelsea blushed more. "Well, no. But…it may depend on how tonight goes."

I nodded. "Well good luck."

"Thanks," Chelsea said, looking at me strangely. She headed off in the direction of the diner. I watched her go. For some reason I was hoping that nothing…_special_…would happen tonight.

[3 hours later]

I was standing on the beach, ready for the ship to come and take me to my job in the city. I liked working with animals, but the travelling kind of annoyed me. It never had before; maybe I was just growing attached to the island.

"Vaughn!"

I turned. Chelsea was running towards me. She bounded over and gave me a hug.

"I just wanted to say good-bye," she said, as she let me go.

"Uh…how was the diner?" I asked, refusing to say "date."

"It was…well, it was great," Chelsea said, her eyes sparkling. My heart sank.

"So are you together now?" I asked.

Chelsea touched her lips gently. "Yeah, I guess we are," she sighed and I knew Mark had kissed her. I suddenly felt sick with the idea of her being in his arms all week.

"Well…I'm happy for you," I said gruffly.

Chelsea smiled at first, and then looked worried. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Seriously, I'm happy." I insisted.

Chelsea smiled. "Thanks. I'll see you next week then?"

I nodded. "Sure."

Chelsea hugged me again and whispered, "I'll text you" in my ear before walking back down the beach.

My ship arrived about half an hour later and I boarded it. I truly didn't know why I was so annoyed about Chelsea being with Mark. I mean, she was a good friend and I liked her but I didn't_ like her _like her. But I couldn't be jealous could I?

Whatever it was, this feeling was something I had never felt before.


	8. Warning

Chelsea's P. O. V.:

I couldn't believe I was going out with Mark. He was cute and funny and sweet and intelligent. Even so, when I told Vaughn I saw something in his eyes that looked like_ jealousy_. Vaughn didn't _like_ me, did he?

Even so, when I was with Mark I couldn't help thinking about Vaughn. I just wondered what it would be like having him as a boyfriend. It annoyed me that I couldn't stop thinking about him. I felt a little guilty for leaving Vaughn when I went to show Mark around but when I tried to apologise, he shrugged it off and said he had work to do anyway.

I missed Vaughn. I thought of him as my best friend. Even Natalie and Julia didn't know anything about my father. I hadn't even told Mark.

On Friday I woke up and finished my work on the farm just before lunch. I went back inside my house and made a sandwich. As I ate I switched on my computer and logged on to my email account and found one from my brother and opened it up.

I forgot about Mark.

I forgot about Vaughn.

I forgot my own name.

All I could think about was what Jake's email said:

_Chels,_

_You will never believe this but DAD came round my house yesterday. I know; I was surprised as well. He acted nice at first, quite matey actually, and we caught up and stuff. I thought "maybe he's changed from before" but then he asked if I knew where you were living and I thought "better not risk it" and so said I didn't know. He didn't believe me and he started getting really mad and demanding to know where you were. I still refused to tell him so he started looking around the house for where I had put your address, checking my phone and everything. He found it in my address book, and then he left without another word. _

_Chels, I tried to ask why he was so desperate to know but he never said and I think that means he still hates you. But then again, I could be wrong but I still think this was something you should know. And Chelsea, if you want to, you can move in with me for a while until it dies down. Just remember, I'll always be there for you if you need it._

_Jake xx_

My breathing came out in gasps. I started shaking. I ran out of my room and into the bathroom and threw up violently into the toilet. Tears began falling from my eyes.

I had been living in fear of this moment. That my father would come back to haunt me. I suddenly wished I had never been born. My life did not outdo this fear.

Who could I talk to? Natalie and Julia and Mark wouldn't get the whole story immediately. I wasn't in any state to explain it calmly to them.

But Vaughn would get it. He would understand. I thanked my lucky stars that he had asked about my scars that day in the meadow.

I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and scrolled through the saved numbers until I found him. Then I hit 'call'. I sat on my bed and crossed my fingers whilst it rang.

"Hello?"

I sighed in relief. "Vaughn?" My voice shook.

"Chelsea? What's wrong?" His voice was alarmed.

I swallowed hard. "You remember that day in the meadow when we were talking about our past lives?"

"Yes?" Vaughn's voice was guarded.

"Well…I just got an email from my brother…and he said that…that…" I began to cry.

"Chelsea, calm down," Vaughn said, though his voice was anxious as well. "I'm at my computer right now, why don't you forward it on to me?"

I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "OK," I said.

"Someone's knocked. I'll call you back," Vaughn said.

I nodded. "Sure,"

The call ended. I went back on the computer and forwarded it on. Then I sat on my bed staring up at the ceiling.

After an eternity my phone burst into life. I answered it immediately.

"Vaughn?"

"My Goddess Chelsea, you must be terrified." Vaughn's voice was alarmed.

"I am. I was shaking and I threw up and I was crying…" I said, feeling the tears come back. I swallowed to get rid of them.

"Look, Chels, calm down, it will be OK. Your brother's offering you protection and loads of people on the island will do the same, me included. Who else knows?"

"Nobody. Just you. Though I will tell others."

"It'll be OK Chelsea."

"I know," I smiled a little. "Thanks Vaughn."

"It's OK Chelsea." He sounded like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't.

I ended the call, a small smile on face. Vaughn was so nice to me. I decided I would tell Taro and Felicia, Gannon, Mirabelle and Chen. I would tell Regis the Vampire but he freaked me out.

I walked out of my house and down into the town. I got the same reaction from everyone: "Oh my Goddess, don't worry Chelsea, you'll be fine, we'll watch out for you etc etc". Felicia and Mirabelle warned Natalie and Julia about it and they also offered their protection.

I felt a little better but it still didn't smooth the little voice at the back of my head: "something bad is going to happen…"


	9. Shock

**Author's note: Just a warning: I've been getting some reviews which are giving me the impression that some people (mentioning no names!) don't like MarkXChelsea so I'd just like to say that if that's you, you probably won't like this chapter very much! Please don't eat me!**

**So yeah, read and review :)**

I walked down the road to the Island Hotel where Mark stayed. I had to tell him about my father and I hoped he could comfort me.

I walked inside and found him in the hotel lobby.

"Mark!"

"Chelsea! Is something wrong? You don't look very well."

I took a deep breath.

"Mark, it's a long story…"

Mark took my hand. "Do you want to go back to your farm?"

We walked back to my farm, hand in hand. Neither of us said anything until we reached my house and was in my bedroom.

We sat down on the bed and Mark put his arm around my shoulders. "Now tell me," he said softly.

I told him everything, from the moment I was born, up until receiving my brother's email earlier today. I even showed him the scars on my arms.

Strange though, when I told Vaughn his face had slowly drained of colour. Mark's eyes just widened a little when he saw my arm.

"Chels, I'm sure it'll be fine. This island's pretty hard to get to; I'm sure he won't find you here," Mark said, shrugging it off.

"Uh-huh," I muttered. I couldn't be comforted THAT easily.

Mark took my face in his hands and began kissing me. I kissed him back, and the longer we kissed the more carried away we got, until I was lying on the bed and Mark was on top of me.

"I want you, Chelsea," he breathed in my ear. I shuddered delicately, but not in a bad way.

My hand slowly traced down his chest towards his jeans. His hand went up my shirt, and then he started taking off his own clothes. I did the same.

When our clothes were on the floor, Mark leaned down to kiss me again…

A few hours later I watched him go back to the hotel. Then I shut the door and sat on the sofa. The fact that I had just lost my virginity made me feel light. It had felt a little weird, but when I got used to it, I had began to like it. And it had actually provided a distraction. Maybe that was Mark's plan…

The next couple of days passed uneventfully.

Mirabelle and I rescued the scarf-wearing dog that ran around the forest. I gave her a home at my farm and called her Rosie.

Mark and I had dinner at the diner but we didn't sleep together again.

Natalie and Julia and I hung out several times. Julia was saying that she really liked Elliot and she was sure Elliot liked her. Natalie banged on about Pierre, the chef who was at least a head smaller than she was. I broke the news about Mark and me and they both shrieked.

But even so, I missed Vaughn. Whenever he was around I always felt relaxed. And I felt protected, like he would keep me out of harm's way. I never felt like that with anyone else, not even Mark. It was just Vaughn.

I was coming down with something. I was sure of it. I was more tired than usual. My back hurt and my head hurt.

I knew I was definitely ill when I woke up on Tuesday morning earlier than usual (the clock said 5:30) and ran into the bathroom and threw up into the toilet. I sat there, gasping until I calmed down. Then I flushed the loo, washed my mouth out and called Julia on her mobile.

"Hello?"

"Jules, it's me, Chelsea."

"Hi Chels! Are you OK?"

"No. I'm sick."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"Yes please."

I cut off the call and sat on the sofa as I waited for Julia. Rosie padded into the room and jumped up onto the sofa beside me, whimpering. I patted her head and stroked her ears. I had always wanted a dog but the council didn't allow pets in the flats.

I slid off the sofa and walked into the kitchen. Rosie followed me, her tail wagging excitedly. I found a packet of dog food in the cupboard and tipped some into the bowl and she dug in. I myself wasn't hungry.

There was a sharp knock at the door and I rushed to answer it. Julia was standing there.

"Chelsea!" she said hugging me tightly. "What's wrong old buddy old friend old pal?"

"Come inside," I said, dragging her into the living room and sitting down on the sofa. She sat beside me.

"What's wrong?"

"Well I've been feeling more tired than usual and my back and head have been aching and this morning I was sick. Except…it's sort of…gone away," I said, as I realised the nausea had passed.

Julia was looking at me hard.

"When was the last day of your menstrual cycle?"

"Eh?" I spluttered. "Julia I really don't think that I'm…"

"But it all makes sense! It's the only answer!" Julia said. "Look, the doctor's on the island on holiday right now, right?"

"Julia, I don't want to bother him when he's on holiday…"

"Well you can't wait until it's too late, Chels. Come on, I'll go with you."

I sighed. Julia was obviously not going to let me go without seeing the doctor.

"Alright then," I muttered.

Julia grinned triumphantly. "I'll help you with your farm work," she said.

After lunch we walked together towards the island hotel where Dr Trent was staying. I silently prayed we wouldn't run into Mark. I couldn't handle the awkward questions.

Thankfully though, Mark was out. Dr Trent was in. He seemed surprised to see us and when Julia explained it to him he offered to give me a free pregnancy test.

We walked back to the farm. Julia was talking about how gorgeous the doctor was. I agreed with her but was too nervous to say anything. We got inside and I went into the bathroom. Julia waited outside.

I read the instructions, shuddering a little at the part where it said I had to pee on it. When I finished I put the test on the bathroom shelf and washed my hands.

"Well?" Julia demanded from the other side of the door.

"Give us a chance; I have to wait five minutes!" I snapped back.

"I'll watch the clock if you'd like?" Julia said.

"Yeah," I replied.

I heard Julia going into another room that had a clock.

It was the longest five minutes of my life. I tried not to think scary thoughts.

Julia suddenly hammered on the door. I jumped, took a deep breath and looked at the test. I froze.

"Julia…?" I said, so quietly I think she could hardly hear me.

"Yeah?" I could hear tension in her voice.

I swallowed hard.

"I'm pregnant."


	10. Nightmare

"What are you gonna do, Chels?"

Julia and I were sitting on the sofa in the living room. Julia had her arm round my shoulders and I was fighting to keep myself from going to pieces. I mean, my worst nightmare was happening right now: my dad was looking for me. And now I was carrying a child.

"I don't know."

"When are you going tell Mark? And Vaughn and the others?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to keep it?"

"I don't know," I whispered and then I caved and burst into tears. Rosie padded into the room and looked startled. Julia wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly, letting me cry all over her top.

I had always loved kids and had always wanted to have them but right now I was…well I didn't know what. It didn't feel real, like I was in a dream. And what would Mark do when he found out? He could act incredibly sweet sometimes and I would feel as if he would always stick by me, no matter what. But then, there were other days when he would act like he didn't give a shit about anything, he just wanted to kiss me.

I lifted my head up from Julia's shoulder (which now had a damp patch on it) and brushed away the tears. Julia rubbed my back.

"Chels, no matter what happens, I'm always here for you," she whispered.

I nodded. "I know."

Julia sighed. "You are going to have to tell Vaughn. Even if you have an abortion, he should know. You're his best friend. If you don't tell him he'll be pretty upset."

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll tell him the next time I see him. It's Wednesday tomorrow isn't it?"

Julia nodded.

"Okay. I'll tell him tomorrow." I sighed. I wasn't relishing the idea. I hoped Vaughn wouldn't think badly of me.

"Maybe you should tell my mum as well? I just think if you're telling Vaughn and me you should tell my mum as well."

"Yeah. Can we tell her now?"

Julia and I walked down to the animal shop and Julia said to Mirabelle that I needed to tell her something and she followed us through the back of the shop where they lived.

I explained the situation to Mirabelle and she listened with a grave face. When I finished she gently put her hand over mine.

"Do you know what you want to do about it?" she said, softly.

I shook my head. "I have no idea. I just don't know what to do. It hasn't even sunk in yet, I feel like I should be in a dream."

"We're here for you Chelsea, whatever you decide. You know that right?" Mirabelle whispered.

I nodded. A tear fell down my face. Mirabelle came over and hugged me. I hugged her back. Mirabelle was like a mother to me. She even physically reminded me of my own mum: short blonde hair and overweight. Julia rubbed my back softly.

Mirabelle released me and I slumped into the chair. She got a tissue out of a box and handed it to me and I wiped the tears off my face.

I wanted to go home and sleep on it. I thanked them both for their support and walked back to the farm. Rosie ran up to me and licked my hand. I smiled a bit and stroked her head.

"It'll be OK Rosie," I whispered, though I knew it wasn't true.

I could hardly sleep during the night and when I did I was being tormented by a strange child who had blonde hair and blue eyes. It was crying about something and when I tried to ask why it would fade away and turn into a man who had chocolate brown hair and ice-blue eyes. He would then reach out to me and close his hands around my neck…and then I would wake up, covered in sweat.

At six in the morning, I ran to the bathroom and threw up. Then I went downstairs and considered eating something but I didn't have much of an appetite. I nibbled a piece of bread, fed Rosie and then went out to work on the farm.

When I had finished the farm work I suddenly realised it was Wednesday. Vaughn was on the island. I walked quickly down to the animal shop and found him just walking outside.

"Vaughn!" I shrieked and ran straight into him, hugging him hard.

"Hey Chelsea," Vaughn said softly. "How have you been?"

"Not great," I muttered.

Vaughn cupped my face in his hands. "Chels, you're being looked after here. You know that. I'll protect you from anything, I promise."

I gazed into his eyes and sighed. I suddenly wished I had never met Mark. I wished I was with Vaughn. I wished that I wasn't having Mark's baby, that my father wasn't looking for me. I wished it was just me and Vaughn.

But wishes couldn't come true. And I had to tell Vaughn the truth.

"Vaughn, I have something to tell you."

"What's wrong?" Vaughn asked, looking concerned.

I took a deep breath. "Just please listen first, and please don't judge me OK?" I said, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"Chelsea Whitlock?" this voice didn't belong to Vaughn or anyone I knew. And yet I felt as if I recognised it from somewhere like…a distant memory.

_Oh Goddess, no._

We both turned and saw a man standing there. He looked like me. He had chocolate brown hair. And ice-blue eyes.

This was the face of my nightmares.

This was my father.

Vaughn stiffened at my side. "What's it to you?" he said. His voice was dangerously soft.

My father glared at us. "I just believe we have some unfinished business to take care of," he said, in an equally dangerously soft voice. I noticed the door to the carpenter shop open behind him and Gannon walk out. He looked over at us and slowly began walking over.

My father suddenly grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to him.

"Get AWAY from her!" Vaughn snarled.

Taro and Mirabelle heard him shout and were standing at their doors, looking anxious.

My father suddenly slapped my face hard, knocking me to the ground. I groaned as I sat up, my hand on my face.

"NO!" Vaughn suddenly cried and jumped in front of me. Then he collapsed.

"Vaughn?" I yelped, scrambling over to him. I took his face in my hands. He had been trying to protect me and had gotten himself stabbed.

Gannon rushed up to us, grabbed my father and pinned him to the ground. Julia and Natalie and Elliot were there. Julia and Natalie were sobbing. Mirabelle and Felicia were talking urgently on their mobiles.

Vaughn looked up at me. He was losing consciousness.

"Vaughn," I whispered. "Don't leave me Vaughn. Please don't leave me!"

"Chelsea," he whispered, hoarsely. Then he went limp in my arms.

**Yet another cliff-hanger! I'm rotten aren't I! Don't worry dear readers, all in good time! Read and review!**


	11. Pain

I couldn't feel my body. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. Dr Trent and Vaughn were being taken to the city in an air ambulance. Gannon had a firm hold on my father who was trying, without success, to escape his grasp. He was still screaming abuse at me when the police showed up in their helicopter.

"I hate you Chelsea, I never wanted you to live! I never wanted two children but for the second one to be a _girl!_ You don't deserve to live! You're scum!" Except I hardly heard what he was saying. I no longer cared about what happened to him.

"Excuse me?" said a voice. I looked up and saw a policeman.

"Do you know this man?"

I swallowed hard. "Yes. He's my father and he abused me from when I was born to when I was three years old and my mum divorced him. He's been trying to kill me but someone was protecting me and they took the knife," tears fell down my face. "Do whatever you want with him. I don't care anymore."

The policeman put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, miss. We'll take good care of him."

My father was forced into the helicopter—still screaming abuse—and they flew away. I watched them go. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see it was Julia, who also had tears on her face. She pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. I began to cry again.

Julia and Mirabelle led me into the animal shop and through the back. They sat me down at the table and Julia pulled up a chair next to me and put her arms around me and I rested my head on her shoulder, tears flowing steadily from my eyes the entire time. I could feel wetness in my hair and knew that Julia was crying as well.

Mirabelle entered the room, carrying two mugs. She placed them down on the table in front of us and I could see that it was hot chocolate. Julia let go of me and started sipping hers steadily. I stared at it for a minute, and then I reached out and took a sip. It made me a feel a tiny bit better.

Just a tiny bit. Not much.

When I finished my drink I told them I was going back home. Mirabelle gently touched my cheek as I passed.

I went back into my house and was immediately greeted by my dog. Rosie barked and jumped up to me, placing her paws on my stomach. Then I remembered that I was still carrying a child. I shuddered as I realised I had to tell Mark. As if this day couldn't get any worse.

Speaking of which, Mark hadn't offered me the same protection as Vaughn had. When I poured my heart out to Vaughn, his face drained of colour, he offered protection, and he held me until I calmed down. When I poured my heart out to Mark, he shrugged it off, slept with me, and then knocked me up.

I hugged Rosie tightly and she licked my face, looking at me worriedly. I walked into my bedroom and fired up the computer, typing out a long email to Jake telling him about what happened and that Dad had been taken by the police. Rosie sat by my feet the entire time. I patted her head and sighed. "Guess I can't put this off for too much longer."

I walked out of my house and headed to the Island Hotel. When I reached Mark's room I took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

"Yeah?" said Mark's voice. "Come in." He sounded weird.

"Mark?" I said, stepping in the room.

"Chels!" Mark grinned. I noticed a bottle on his bedside table. He was drunk? "Come here baby."

I shivered at the word _baby._

"Mark, Vaughn got stabbed. By my father," I said, a lump forming in my throat.

Mark shrugged. "Point?" he said.

I glared at him. "Mark, my _best friend_ just got_ stabbed_ by _my own father_! I'm scared for him and I'm upset. The least you could do is show a little sympathy,"

Mark grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of his room, out of the hotel until we were outside.

"Why are you concerned?" he growled.

_What?_ Did this guy have no compassion whatsoever?

"I don't believe you. You like Vaughn, don't you? You've been cheating on me with him, that's why you're upset! You love him more than me!" Mark yelled.

"Mark, please, it's not like that!" I protested. Mark slapped me hard around the face.

"Mark!" I gasped.

Mark slapped me again, making me fall to the ground, just like my father had earlier. Then he started beating me until I was sobbing.

"You're a cheat Chelsea! A dirty rotten cheat! I can't believe you would do that!" he yelled. Then he kicked me hard in the stomach before storming back to the inn.

I lay on the ground, gasping and sobbing. I clutched at my stomach. Mark had kicked all the air out of me. I knew I had lost the baby; there was no way it could have survived that. The blood that was now soaking into my shorts only confirmed that.

"Chelsea?" I looked up. Nick was walking towards me. "I heard the shouting. What happened?"

I swallowed. I didn't want to say. "Can you help me get to the animal shop?" I gasped.

Nick nodded and put his arm around me and helped me up. Slowly we walked into west town and Nick banged on the door of the animal shop.

Julia answered it. "Oh my Goddess!" she shrieked. "Mum!"

Mirabelle came in. Her eyes widened at the sight of me. "Julia, why don't you help Chelsea get to the living room?" she said.

Julia nodded and put her arm round me. I looked at Nick. "Thank you," I said.

He nodded. "Any time."

Julia helped me into her living room and we sat on the sofa. Mirabelle joined us a moment later.

"What happened?" Julia asked.

I swallowed hard. "I went into the hotel to tell Mark what had happened. Except he was drunk. And he thought I had been cheating on him with Vaughn and started beating me up." I began to cry again. Julia hugged me, but not so hard this time.

"There's a lot of blood. What did he do to you?" Mirabelle asked, her voice filled with concern.

"He kicked me in the stomach and I lost the baby," I whispered.

"Arse-hole!" Julia cried.

"Julia!" Mirabelle said.

"Sorry."

"Chelsea," Mirabelle said softly. "Do you want to go back to your farm?"

I nodded.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Julia asked.

I nodded again.

Julia helped me walk to the farm. When we got inside I told her I was going to change my shorts.

I walked into my bedroom and found a pair of jeans. I took off my shorts and put the jeans on before tossing the shorts into the laundry basket. I lifted up my shirt a little and looked at my stomach. It looked like it was going to bruise. I sighed and put my shirt down again.

I looked at the pictures round my mirror. I now had a lot more than when I had first put them up there. I took down all the ones of Mark.

One picture in particular caught my eye. It had been taken at the beginning of summer. Julia, Elliot, Vaughn and I had been messing around on the beach, and then Julia and Elliot had gone swimming. I still couldn't swim and, even though he could, Vaughn had stayed with me to keep me company. We stood in the shallows and I had taken a picture of our shadows in the water.

I remembered that day, the warmth of the sun, the gritty sand and the coolness of the water around my feet. I held the picture against my heart and silently sent a prayer up to the harvest goddess that Vaughn would pull through.


	12. Memories

A week had passed since Vaughn had got hurt. He was still unconscious but, according to the Mineral Town hospital, his condition had gone from critical to stable. It still didn't ease my worry though.

I hadn't spoken to Mark since we broke up but I found a note taped to my front door. It said:_ I'm sorry for hurting you. I had been drinking and when I get drunk I get mad. I won't ask you to take me back, because I know you'll be happier with somebody else._

I'm glad Mark won't ask me to take him back. And actually, I don't want him back. His recent beating left me bruised and aching all over.

Vaughn never left my mind. I pictured him laying in a hospital bed, wired up to all these machines, a large gash in his side from the knife. The knife that_ I_ should have taken.I began to cry again when I thought that. He shouldn't have jumped in front of me. He shouldn't have put his own life in danger to save mine.

It wasn't everyone who was tearing themselves apart over Vaughn. Julia and Mirabelle were worried but they were keeping cheerful and positive. Julia rang me up once and said that Elliot had asked her on a date to the diner. I tried to be happy for her but I missed Vaughn. Also the phrase "date to the diner" made me think of the evening Mark and I got together.

I shouldn't have accepted Mark's date. I shouldn't have showed him around the island. I could see that now, why hadn't I seen it earlier?

On Friday I was walking Rosie around the island when I saw Elliot walking hand-in-hand with Julia. I couldn't help smiling to myself. Those two were made for each other.

Rosie and I walked around the forest and we came to a particular spot. It was before Vaughn and I had shared our pasts, we had been in the forest playing with some wild dogs.

_I walked down from the mountain and into the forest. Then I stopped. Vaughn was standing against a tree, looking at something. I swallowed._

"_Vaughn?"_

_He turned. "Hi, Chelsea."_

_I suddenly saw he had been watching a pack of wild dogs. The minute I noticed them, one of them looked up at me and barked once. The other four dogs suddenly ran up to me. I started to panic._

"_Don't worry, it's OK. They're friendly," Vaughn said, smiling a little as he walked up to me. "They won't hurt anybody."_

"_How do you know?" I asked, with interest._

"_I ran into this pack a while ago. They looked hungry so I fed them," Vaughn said, shrugging._

_I smiled. Vaughn was adorable around animals. "So now they like you?" I asked._

_Vaughn nodded. "Now they count on me. Guess they think I'm part of their pack now."_

_I smiled. I could so clearly imagine Vaughn leading a pack of dogs. I knelt down in front of the dogs and offered my hand. One of the dogs leaned forward and sniffed it. Then he licked my palm. I laughed and stroked it. I looked up at Vaughn and saw he was smiling under his hat. _

"_Let's play with them!" I grinned._

_Vaughn laughed softly. "Well I guess I don't have any more work to do today," he smirked. I laughed again and Vaughn knelt down beside me and we stroked the dogs. They lapped up the attention happily. _

_We played with them for several hours until the dogs decided to go. Vaughn and I watched them._

"_That was fun," Vaughn said, looking at me._

_I smiled. "It really was."_

_Vaughn laughed. "I'm glad I got to know you Chelsea. You're a really good friend."_

_I smiled and blushed a little. "I'm glad I got to know you as well."_

Rosie barked and licked my feet, bringing me back to the present day. I sniffed, then picked her up and buried my face in her soft fur. She happily licked my face. For a second I wished I was a dog. I wouldn't have to worry about my friends getting stabbed by my own father.

I put Rosie down on the ground. "Come on Rose, let's go somewhere else."

We walked through west town and I was reminded of the time when I had lunch in the diner with Natalie and Julia. On the way there I had smacked into Vaughn. That had been the first time we had actually spoke to each other, not counting the day he first arrived on the island.

When we walked past Regis and Sabrina's mansion I remembered when Vaughn had got pissed at Lanna when she called him "Vaughnie". I privately thought the nickname was funny and quite cute but I stood up for Vaughn when he told her to stop calling him that.

In the meadow the first thing that came back to me was the day he had seen the scars on my arm. That wasn't the only time we had talked in the meadow though. I had seen him talking to Sabrina a few days before that and had interrogated him about it. I badgered him until he told me that he didn't fancy her but he thought she liked him.

Sabrina really annoyed me and I didn't even know why. She didn't do anything that got on my nerves. Maybe it was because she liked Vaughn. Whatever. There was something about her that just grated my nerves.

Before walking back to my farm we ended up on the beach. I walked to the end of the pier and sat in the very spot where I had sat with Vaughn when I told him to smile.

"_I don't need to smile to do my job," Vaughn had said, after he gave me a tiny smile and I told him to make it bigger._

"_But I'd like to see you smile!" The words had slipped out accidently. I didn't mean to say them out loud._

"_R-really? No one's ever said that to me before," Vaughn said, in a shocked voice._

_I couldn't look him in the eye but I said softly, "Well they have now."_

"_OK. I'll work on it. If you want it so much."_

"_Thanks Vaughn," I grinned wildly. I stood up to go…but then I gathered all my courage and kissed him gently on the cheek. Vaughn's face went bright red and I ran off quickly. I felt a little triumphant._

A tear fell down my face again. I had been crying for him so much lately. I gazed up at the sky, feeling the heat of the summer sun. I knew that I couldn't go on denying myself any more. I looked out to the horizon.

"I love you, Vaughn," I whispered softly. I knew there was no way he would know I said that.

But still, I hoped.


	13. Home

Vaughn's P. O. V:

I didn't know where I was. All I could see was darkness. There was a stabbing pain in my side and I didn't know where that came from. Then I could see light up ahead. Was I saved or was I dead?

The light turned out to be a young woman, carrying a lantern. She had long brown hair tied in to a ponytail and pale violet eyes. I swallowed.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

The woman gave me a soft smile. "Vaughn, I'm your mother."

I froze and my eyes widened. "My…mother?"

"Yes," she smiled. "Vaughn, what are you doing here?"

"I don't even know where I am," I said softly.

My mother smiled. "You shouldn't be here Vaughn. You should be living."

"Am I dead?" I gasped.

"No. Not yet," my mother said. She gazed into my eyes. "Vaughn, I know that you hate your father for what he leaving you when he died. But please don't think too badly of him. We were young; younger than you are now. If you had been born several years later, it would have been different. Trust me. But we were only sixteen. We didn't know."

Only sixteen. My mum had died when she was sixteen years old. If she and my dad were only sixteen then maybe…I didn't blame him so much for leaving me.

A tear fell down my face. "I miss you," I whispered.

She brushed it away gently. "I know Vaughn. I miss you too. I want you to come with me, but you can't leave the island."

I snorted. "What is there for me on the island?"

My mum put my hand on my face and turned my cheek until I was facing the other way. The darkness slowly changed into a scene.

It was the beach on the island. It seemed to be getting towards the evening and the setting sun was making the sky look pale blue and orange. But I hardly noticed the sky.

Chelsea was sitting on the pier, her dog by her side. They were sitting in the very spot Chelsea and I had sat when she told me to smile. Tears were falling steadily down her face and she looked up to the sky…as if she was looking at me.

"I love you, Vaughn," she whispered. Chelsea was sitting on the pier, her dog by her side. They were sitting in the very spot Chelsea and I had sat when she told me to smile. Tears were falling steadily down her face and she looked up to the sky…as if she was looking at me.

"I love you, Vaughn," she whispered.

"Chelsea," I whispered. I tried to reach out for her. I wanted to take her into my arms, kiss her tears away, tell her I would never ever leave her. But the scene slowly faded away. My mother turned me back to her.

"Vaughn, don't be afraid. Think about Chelsea. She needs you, more than you know," she kissed my cheek softly. "I love you, my darling."

She touched my cheek softly, and then began fading away. I began to cry. I didn't want her to leave me, not now, not only just after meeting her.

Chelsea's face suddenly filled my mind. Her long brown hair, her beautiful ice-blue eyes, her soft pale skin. I missed her. I needed Chelsea. There were sometimes when I used to consider suicide, but when I thought of Chelsea and when I was on the island with her, the world didn't seem like a completely horrible place after all.

"Chelsea, I love you," I whispered. I realised it was true. I had been denying myself that I was falling in love with Chelsea. Now that I knew I loved her, I couldn't leave her.

In an instant I suddenly saw everything. I saw her father slap her. I saw Chelsea fall to the ground. I saw myself jumping in front of her. I saw the flash of silver and felt the sudden agonizing pain. I heard Chelsea scream my name and I saw her tear stained face before everything went black. Then my eyes opened.

I was lying in some kind of bed with rails, strapped up to several machines. The walls and ceiling were plain white. I must have been in a hospital. And I could feel the pain in my side where I had been stabbed.

I thought of that brown haired blue eyed man who hated his daughter so much. I hoped he got arrested. I hope he dies. I hated it that he tried to kill Chelsea.

The door opened and Dr Trent poked his head round the door.

"Vaughn," he smiled. "It's so good to see that you're awake."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Just over two weeks. How do you feel?"

"Hurts a bit."

"I'll get you something to dull it down." His head disappeared round the door. I sank back into the pillows, wondering when I could go back to the island.

When Dr Trent came back, he injected something into my side that numbed the pain in my side.

Two days later, I stepped off the boat and onto the pier. I walked back up the beach and towards the animal shop. I smiled at the thought of seeing my "adoptive family" again. And of course, I was anxious to see Chelsea again.

I stepped into the animal shop. Mirabelle was behind the counter but the minute she saw me, she rushed over and hugged me tightly.

"Julia!" she called over her shoulder, before turning back to me. "Oh, Vaughn, we've missed you so much!"

I smiled a little as I hugged her back. The back door of the shop opened and Julia stepped out. Her face lit up in a wide grin and she came hurtling over and jumped up and hugged me tightly.

"Vaughnie! We missed you!"

"Don't call me 'Vaughnie'!" I muttered as I hugged her back.

"Have you seen Chelsea yet?" Mirabelle asked me. A spark rushed up my spine when Chelsea's name was mentioned.

"No," I said.

"Go look for her!" Julia giggled. "I think she went to the forest. Go look for her!"

"Yes, you should find her," Mirabelle smiled. "I've never seen her so unhappy Vaughn. She's missed you so much."

I swallowed then left the animal shop and headed in the direction of the forest.

After walking through the forest for a while I saw her. Chelsea. She was leaning against a tree, watching some dogs. I smiled as I remembered the time we had played with them together. I coughed quietly.

Chelsea turned and then gasped. "Vaughn?" she whispered.

I smiled at her. "It's me," I confirmed.

Chelsea came tearing over, straight into my arms. I staggered backwards as I caught her.

"What are you crying for?" I grinned. "It's just me!"

"Just!" Chelsea snorted. "Vaughn, I've missed you so much!"

I smiled as I tilted her head up and wiped away her tears. She smiled back at me, a huge dazzling grin.

I was home.


	14. Confession

Chelsea suggested that I should spread the word that I was alive, but I refused. I wanted to spend time with her first, and I wanted to tell her something.

We went back to the farm and were sitting on her bed together. Her dog Rosie was curled up at the end of the bed. When we had come in the house she had barked excitedly and licked both of us to death.

Chelsea gazed up at me happily.

"I'm so happy you're back, Vaughn. I was so worried about you."

"I know," I said softly. "What happened when I was in hospital?"

She smiled "Elliot and Julia got together and…I broke up with Mark," she said, but her face fell.

"You broke up with Mark?" I asked, trying to keep the satisfaction off my face.

Chelsea nodded. "Vaughn, do you remember…before you…were hurt," her voice shook when she said that. "Do you remember I said I had to tell you something?"

I swallowed. "Yes."

She took a deep breath. "Just listen first, ok? Please don't think badly of me."

What was she talking about? I took her hand. "What happened?"

She swallowed. "Well, when I got my brothers email and I told you and everyone else about it. I went to tell Mark and he shrugged it off like it wasn't important. And then he kissed me and then…we slept together." She hung her head like she was ashamed.

"You slept with Mark?" I whispered. She nodded.

"Then the day before you came to the island, I found out I was pregnant," she said softly.

I froze. "You're…pregnant?"

She shook her head. "I was. But then after you…were hurt…" her eyes filled up with tears. I wondered how much it must have hurt her if she was stumbling on her words whenever she talked about it.

"After that, I went to tell Mark what happened and he had been drinking. I told him about you and then he took it the wrong way. He brought me outside and seemed determined that I had been cheating on him with you. Then…he beat me up."

Tears began falling down her face. I was shocked. I put my arm round her and gave her a hug and she cried on my shoulder. I could hardly believe that Chelsea had been pregnant and Mark beating her up made me angry. How could he _do_ that to her?

Chelsea looked up at me and whispered, "He kicked me in the stomach and I lost the baby."

My anger doubled. OK, I didn't like the idea of Chelsea carrying _Mark's_ child and was glad that she wasn't pregnant anymore but I hated Mark for hurting her so much.

"That arse-hole!" I muttered. I wanted to kill him. I didn't care if it would get me arrested, I wanted him to die. Speaking of which…

"Chelsea? What happened to your father?" I asked quietly.

Chelsea sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Mirabelle called the police and Gannon held on to him until they arrived. He was arrested. One of the policemen told me they would take care of him when I told him what had happened."

Well at least he would get what he deserved. Chelsea wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

"I can't believe Mark did that to you," I said, gazing at her face. She was so beautiful, my heart thudded unevenly. How could anyone damage such a perfect face? "I could kill him for that."

Chelsea shook her head. "Don't. Don't worry about him, he's not worth it."

"Ok then," I said. If it would upset Chelsea, I wouldn't do it. No way.

Chelsea suddenly blushed. "The thing is Vaughn…I've never really thought about it when I was with Mark but…you…well…you've always been much more nice and caring than Mark has. I mean when I told you about my father you immediately said you would protect me and you did. But Mark just shrugged it off like it was nothing."

"I know," I said softly. I stared into her beautiful eyes and knew I wanted her more than anything else in the world.

"Chelsea," I sighed, loving the sound of her name. She blushed and smiled a little.

"I have to tell you something," I said.

Chelsea looked anxious. "Yes?" she asked, shyly.

I took a deep breath. Come on, cowboy, you can do this.

"Chelsea, I…I…" I stared at her face again and decided to see if actions really did speak louder than words.

I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to hers. "I love you Chelsea," I whispered.

Chelsea gasped, softly. "Really?" she whispered.

I felt like I wanted to die. I nodded.

She smiled hugely and my heart began to beat wildly. "I love you too, cowboy," she said.

I took her face in my hands and kissed her again. This time she kissed me back. Her fingers gently caressed my face and my hands ran through her long soft hair. I could hardly believe it! The one I loved more than anybody else was here, in my arms, kissing me like she could never stop. And I didn't want her to stop.

But of course we had to eventually. We broke off, both slightly out of breath. We gazed into each other's eyes and laughed softly. I replayed that beautiful moment in my head. Rosie walked across the bed over to us and sat with her front paws in Chelsea's lap. Chelsea smiled as she stroked her ears.

"If she could talk she would probably say 'can't you two get a room?'" I smirked, putting my arm around Chelsea's shoulders. Chelsea laughed.

"And she sat in my lap so we can't kiss like that again," she sighed, resting her head against my shoulder. But then she looked sad. "Are you leaving on Thursday again?"

I shook my head. "Not this time. My boss gave me a week off to recover."

Chelsea smiled and put her arms around my neck. "Suppose you had better spread the word that you're alive?" she said. Did I imagine the hint of reluctance in her voice?

"Maybe. But I can do that later," I said. I kissed her lips, softly and sweetly.

I know I will love her until the day I die.


	15. Elliot and Julia

**Author's note: OK people, school starts on Monday :( so I probably won't be able to update as often as I have. It's been quite a while since I last updated but I kept getting writer's block whilst writing this one. I don't own Harvest Moon or Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen (probably not a song you might hear at a wedding but it's the only one I could think of that was a waltz). So read and review!**

Chelsea's P. O. V.:

I was so happy. Vaughn was alive, back on the island and he had kissed me! I kept thinking of that kiss over and over and over again. It had been the most amazing kiss ever. Unlike the kisses I had from Mark, it was tender and loving and passionate. It even made me feel slightly resentful that I had gone out with Mark. Vaughn was just so much better in every way.

I wasn't the only one who was on cloud nine apparently.

Vaughn and I were working at the farm the next morning (he had stayed round over the night) when Julia suddenly came squealing up the path towards us.

"!" she shrieked, pulling me into a tight hug and crushing all the air out of my lungs.

"What?" I croaked as Vaughn prised her off me.

"Elliot just proposed to me!" she squealed happily. Her face was a little red and her bright blue eyes were sparkling with delight.

"You serious?" Vaughn spluttered as I squealed "Oh my Goddess!" like Julia had done.

Julia suddenly forgot about Elliot and glared at Vaughn. "What are you doing up here so early?"

"It's not that early," Vaughn muttered, pulling his hat down over his eyes, hiding a blush.

Julia grinned evilly. "Alright then," she smirked. She glanced at me.

"Did you tell him?" she asked me quietly. I nodded, and then got the conversation back to what it had been.

"So, when did he propose to you?"

Julia grinned wildly. "Well it was yesterday evening and we had had dinner together and then I was just about to go back inside my house when he pulled out a blue feather and proposed," Julia sighed, her eyes looking dreamy. "Hey Chelsea, can you come into town with me tomorrow and help me look for a dress?"

"Sure," I said, feeling horrified at the prospect. It would take at least five hours for Julia to find one that she thought was only mildly OK. And I wanted to be with Vaughn.

Julia squealed "Thank you so much!" and then rushed off back down the path.

"Well, I'm happy for her," Vaughn said as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I smiled and leaned into the embrace.

"So am I," I said. "Except we'll probably be in town looking for a dress all day tomorrow so I probably won't see you."

Vaughn smiled and kissed the top of my head.

"You could pretend you're ill. I could 'take care' of you. She'll probably ask Natalie to come instead," he said softly, running his hands through my hair. I laughed.

"Tempting," I said. "But I think she'll get suspicious."

The next day Natalie, Julia and I went into Mineral Town to go dress shopping. I hadn't told Natalie and Julia about Vaughn and I yet, we had planned not to tell anyone and see how long it would take them to notice.

We went inside the shop which was filled with long dresses for all kinds of occasions, particularly weddings. Although one wedding dress surprised me: it was black. I know that some people are like that but seriously, who would want to wear _black_ on their wedding day?

"Chelsea!" Julia called. I looked over and saw she already had a couple. "I'm going to try on."

I nodded. "Coming!"

While Julia was in the changing room, Natalie and I sat next to it chatting to each other.

"Chelsea…" Natalie said quietly.

I looked at her feeling a little anxious. She spoke in the kind of voice she used when she was about to reveal some kind of earth shattering secret.

I swallowed. "What?"

Natalie smiled a little and a warm blush spread across her cheeks. "I think I'm in love," she confessed.

I smiled. So that made three of us. "With Pierre?"

She nodded. Personally I didn't see how she liked Pierre. I thought he was more little-boy cute. But then again, Natalie probably couldn't see how I fancied some silver haired anti social cowboy.

"I think Pierre likes me. But I don't know if he's one for romance and stuff," Natalie said quietly.

I shrugged. "Well I first thought that with Vaughn but then…" I trailed off.

Natalie looked at me. "Is something going on between you guys?" she asked, grinning.

I sighed. "Well, yes. But we wanted to keep it secret and see how long it would take people to notice."

Natalie squeezed my hand. "I'll keep it a secret for now and you can tell me the details when Julia finds out."

I smiled. Julia suddenly came out of the dressing room. "What do you think?" she asked.

The dress looked amazing on her. It was pale pink and sleeveless, it dusted the floor but the train wasn't too long. It clung to her curves and accentuated her chest slightly.

"That looks great!" I approved. Natalie agreed. Julia checked herself out in the mirror, liked what she saw, and then started inspecting the others. She decided she would keep the pink one.

The trip was a lot shorter than I thought it would be. We got back to the island at around four in the afternoon. Vaughn seemed genuinely surprised to see us back (he agreed it would take hours for Julia to find a dress she liked) and we spent the evening together in the meadow.

The week passed quickly. Julia and Elliot were almost completely inseparable. As were Vaughn and I but we kept it private. Natalie acted as if she didn't know we were going out, although the more I thought about it I hadn't actually told her that we were going out.

The wedding day finally arrived. Natalie and I were bridesmaids and were helping Julia get ready. Natalie brushed her long thick hair and added a bit of sparkly spray in it. I did her makeup.

Natalie and I were both wearing pale pink dresses. They were knee-length and had spaghetti straps. I covered up the scars on my arms with concealer.

When we got to the church we could hear the buzz of people inside. Julia started taking deep breaths and Mirabelle squeezed her hand. Natalie and I hugged her. I whispered, "Good luck" in her ear before we made our entrance.

We walked down the aisle and took our seats. As luck would have it, Vaughn was right beside me and I threaded my fingers through his. Elliot was standing at the front, dressed in a tux. He looked almost like a different person. He was anxious but when Julia entered the room his anxious expression turned into a joyful smile.

I spaced out for most of the ceremony, my attention mainly going to Vaughn's hand in mine, but as Nathan pronounced them husband and wife, Julia kissed Elliot with all the force she was a capable of. A light chuckle ran through the audience.

There was a party set up outside the church. Elliot took Julia into his arms for their first dance. It was cute seeing them together. I could tell they really loved each other. Other couples started to join them on the dance floor, including Natalie and Pierre; his eyes were at least a head lower than hers.

I watched the couples dance when I felt Vaughn's hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile.

"May I have this dance?"

I swallowed. "Um…sure."

He took my hand and we joined the other couples. Vaughn put his other hand on my waist and we danced to _Take This Waltz._ I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.

"People are staring," Vaughn whispered to me. I glanced at people's faces. They were indeed staring at us.

I smiled. Vaughn suddenly placed a soft kiss on my lips. I guess our relationship wasn't secret anymore.


	16. Feather

That Thursday evening, Vaughn and I stood on the pier, watching his ship draw closer. Vaughn wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"I'll miss you," I whispered to him. "I'm so used to you being here."

"I know," Vaughn smiled. "Hey, the days will fly by and I'll be back before you know it."

I sighed and kissed him passionately. He kissed me back and then gently broke off, before boarding his ship. I watched him sail away into the sunset.

When his ship was just a small speck on the horizon I turned and walked back to the farm. I thought about Julia and Elliot and how happy they both looked. I suddenly wondered if Vaughn would ever propose to me.

When I got into my farm I was greeted by Rosie. I tipped some food into her bowl and then made myself some toast. Rosie finished before I did and she lay next to me, resting her head on my feet. I tickled her behind the ears and then went upstairs to take off all my makeup and put my pyjama's on.

It had been a pretty long day and now I was fairly exhausted. I flopped onto the bed and Rosie jumped on and curled up beside me. I stroked her for a while and then fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke to the sound of my phone ringing. My eyes fluttered open and I saw that Rosie was no longer with me. I turned over and reached for my phone that was on the bedside table. By the time I got to it, it had stopped ringing. It buzzed with a text. I saw the name and could easily guess why she was so desperate to talk to me.

_1 message from: Julia:_

_OMG RU GOING OUT W/VAUGHN?_

I smiled to myself and ignored her question:

_How was ur wedding nite?_

_U didn't answer my Q!_

_Neither did u!_

_Wedding nite was gr8 I hardly slept._

I regretted swaying her with that question. The image I had just seen was something I could have lived without. I tapped out a reply:

_Wot do u think?_

_U R! OMG I KNEW U FANCIED HIM!_

_Well who doesn't?_

_Everyone. Except u obvs. And may b Sabrina._

Hm. So Sabrina_ did _fancy Vaughn. Well he is mine, bitch.

_Don't worry Chels, V only luvs u._

_I know. _

I switched my phone off and went downstairs to make breakfast. Rosie was wandering around the kitchen. When she saw me she barked and put her paws on my stomach. I laughed.

"OK OK pretty girl, I'll find you something to eat," I grinned, taking a packet of dog food out of the cupboard. I put some two slices of bread in the toaster and made a cup of coffee. I was sitting at the table sipping it when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Why did you switch your phone off?"

Bloody hell, Julia was an unstoppable force of nature when she wanted to be.

"Erm…the battery went flat."

"Whatever. So when did you guys start going out?"

"When he came back from hospital." I still couldn't say that he had got stabbed.

"So what happened? What was it like? Give me details!"

"OK. So I was in the forest watching some dogs and then I heard someone cough behind me and when I looked he was there. I ran over to him and hugged him and then we went back to my farm and I told him about the stuff that had happened and then he told me he loved me and we kissed," I said, hoping that was enough detail for her.

"Aw, that's so cute. I always knew you fancied Vaughn!"

I growled under my breath softly. "And I always knew you fancied Elliot!"

Julia laughed. "Remember when the diner had just opened and we had lunch there and I was winding you up because you were going crazy over bumping into Vaughn?"

I couldn't help laughing with her. "Yeah, that's actually pretty funny looking back."

There was a muffled shout on the other end. "I have to go," Julia said. "See you sometime."

"Yeah, see ya," I said.

I cut off the call and buttered my toast. I sat at the table nibbling it. Julia's wedding was beautiful. I suddenly wondered if Vaughn would propose to me.

The week passed uneventfully. I worked on the farm, played with Rosie, hung out with Julia and Natalie and sometimes Elliot.

When Wednesday came I worked on the farm as quickly as possible, checking my phone every two minutes until I found a message from Vaughn:

_Meet me in the meadow when you finish work. X V_

I worked hurriedly and finished about an hour later. I then half-walked half-ran to the meadow and saw Vaughn standing under a tree. I smiled wildly then rushed over to him into his arms. He kissed the top of my head.

"You lied to me," I accused.

"Eh?" Vaughn spluttered.

"You said the days would fly by and they didn't!"

"They didn't for me either. Sorry Chels."

"Well I forgive you."

"I'm glad because…Chels? Will you do something for me?"

"Sure," I said, wondering what he wanted. Suddenly he let go of me and his hand went into his back pocket. He slid down onto one knee and brought something out of his pocket. Something blue. And feathery.

_Oh my Goddess…_

Vaughn stared up at me. "Will you marry me Chelsea?"

I broke into a huge smile. "YES! Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

Vaughn stood up from the ground and then pulled me into his arms and kissed me until we nearly passed out. When we stopped, both out of breath, he rested his forehead against mine. "Thank you," he said softly.

"You'll never leave me right?"

"Chels, I can't live _without_ you. Why would you even think that?"

"I don't know. I love you Vaughn."

"I love you too Chelsea."

We stayed locked in each other's arms a while longer and then decided to drop by the animal shop and tell Mirabelle and Julia.

"Wow! You're getting married? Vaughn I didn't know you liked anyone that much!" Julia grinned after she had just crushed all the air out of my lungs by hugging me.

"Yeah, it feels kinda weird," Vaughn said, "But I wanted to tell you two," He ducked his head, smiling a little, pulling his hat down over his eyes. "I guess…you guys are the closest thing I have to a family."

"You're showing some emotion, Vaughn! Chelsea must be a good influence!" Mirabelle laughed. "I always knew you had a good heart, even though you do your best to hide it. But I'm so happy that you found a nice girl who can look past that." She laughed suddenly. "Don't look so surprised, Vaughn! You're not that good at hiding your kind heart!" She smiled at me. "Take good care of Vaughn, Chelsea!"

"I will," I smiled and squeezed Vaughn's hand.

Vaughn ducked his head and mumbled something. Julia laughed and turned to her mother.

"I think you actually embarrassed him, Mum!"

Vaughn glared at her. She poked her tongue out at him.

"I like this new emotional Vaughn. Chelsea, you turned him into a human being! Anyway, when is the ceremony you two?"

Vaughn recovered himself and said, "I think one week should be enough time to prepare. Right, Chels?"

I grinned, "Yeah that sounds fine!"

"That's wonderful, I can't wait! Congratulations you two!" Mirabelle smiled.


	17. Vaughn and Chelsea

I stood in front of the full-length mirror in Julia's bedroom in my wedding dress. The past week had gone by fairly quickly at first but as it got towards the end, especially yesterday and the day before, every hour felt like ten years. I would say I was excited but that didn't really cover the odd mix of emotions. I was excited, yes, but I was also anxious, impatient and incredibly happy.

"OK Chelsea, that's done!" Julia grinned as she tied the dress up at the back.

She and Natalie were helping me dress. They already had the hair done and were dressed already. Natalie's lashes were long enough for her to just need mascara but Julia had added false eyelashes. Natalie's bob was too short to do anything fancy but she was wearing some sparkly flower shaped hair slides and she'd put a bit of glitter spray into it. Julia's thick blonde hair was out of its usual ponytail and it waved gently down her back like a glorious golden waterfall. Their dresses were the same: knee-length, with spaghetti straps and a soft pale blue.

Whenever I tried to compliment them, however, they just snorted and said that I looked far better than they did. My long straight brown hair had been curled and put into a ponytail and I had dozens of little silver flower clips woven into it. The dress was backless and tied up at the back of my neck. The skirt was long and thick and shimmery. I had to admit, I kind of liked it. My eyelashes had been blackened and curled, a little blush was put into my cheeks and Julia had tried to give me lip gloss but I had rejected, saying that it would come off onto Vaughn's face. Then again, that could have been the reason she wanted me to wear it.

Mirabelle suddenly poked her head round the door. "Chelsea, your brother is here."

I turned round and was suddenly enveloped into a tight hug from my brother.

"Chelsea, you look great! I'm so happy for you!" Jake smiled as we broke apart.

I grinned at him. "I've missed you Jake."

Julia and Natalie were looking at my brother with interest. I pointed them out to him. "Guys, this is my brother, Jake. Jake, these are my friends, Julia and Natalie."

The three of them exchanged hellos and then Julia started chatting to him and Natalie slipped over to me and whispered, "He's kind of fit," in my ear. I glared at her and she laughed.

"Anyway, I suppose we had better go," she grinned. She and Julia disappeared out the door to where the horse and carriage was (have you ever tried driving a car through a forest?). Jake grabbed the bouquet of flowers and handed it to me.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded. "As I'll ever be."

He smiled as we went outside with Julia and Natalie and got into the cart.

"Are you nervous?" Jake asked.

"A little bit," I admitted. I watched Julia and Natalie and Mirabelle in front of us, chatting together. I sighed.

"What?" Jake asked.

"I was just thinking about Mum," I said quietly.

"Ah," Jake nodded. Even though she had died a year before I came to the island, thinking about her still made me feel empty.

"She would love to be here," I said softly, laying my head carefully by my brother's shoulder.

He nodded. "She's probably in heaven right now, sitting on a cloud watching us, crying with happiness."

I smiled a bit.

"Do you think heaven exists Chelsea?"

"I think there is something there."

There was no time to talk anymore; we had arrived. The others hopped out and Mirabelle quickly went inside the church; Jake stepped onto the ground and helped me down. We walked to the entrance of the church. Julia and Natalie walked in ahead of us and took their places. Jake took my hand and we made our entrance.

The church was filled with many people. I caught sight of Natalie and her family in the front row. Julia and Mirabelle were in the second row, immediately behind them. Mirabelle looked like she wanted to cry. Then I looked ahead and saw Vaughn and I immediately forgot about everything else.

His silver hair was shining in the light coming through the windows and his pale violet eyes were sparkling brightly. They met my ice blue eyes and he smiled his gorgeous smile. His face filled my mind completely and I wanted the aisle to end so I could marry him. The aisle seemed to go on forever as we paced ourselves to the music but at last at last we were there. Jake gently placed my hand in his.

I didn't take in much of the ceremony, my attention mainly centred on the fact that in just a matter of minutes I would be Chelsea Davidson.

Nathan turned to Vaughn. "Vaughn Skye Davidson, do you take Chelsea as your wife, to love and honour until death do you part?"

"I do," Vaughn said his eyes were sparkling.

"Chelsea Jennifer Whitlock, do you take Vaughn as your husband, to love and honour until death do you part?"

"I do," I breathed. I was feeling a little light headed but I was so happy.

Nathan declared us husband and wife and then Vaughn took my face in his hands and gently, sweetly pressed his lips to mine. When we gently pulled apart to the applause of our friends and family, he smiled the tiny smile he knew I loved.

We made our way outside the church, to where a party had been set up. We were congratulated by everyone (for the first time I noticed Sabrina and Mark hadn't turned up). My brother hugged us both, looking watery eyed.

"Congrats guys. I'm so happy for you!" he sniffed.

"Are you _crying_?" I grinned.

"Got something in my eyes," he said, before turning to Vaughn.

"Take care of my little sister, OK?" he warned, jokingly.

Vaughn laughed a little and tightened his arm around my waist. "Will do," he promised.

He pulled me onto the "dance floor" for our first dance and wrapped his arm around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head against his shoulder as we slowly twirled around.

"You look absolutely beautiful today," Vaughn told me softly. I smiled a bit.

"I love you Vaughn."

"I love you too," Vaughn whispered and kissed me again. We were together at last and nothing could change that now.


	18. Wedding night

**Author's note: I'm nearing the end of my story. There will be about four more chapters after this one. This chapter is quite short. I'm sorry they've all been a little on the short side ut I seem to struggle to write long chapters, for some reason :/**

**Anyway, this one may get a bit graphic but read and review!**

I lay in bed by my new husband's side, snuggled up to his chest. His arms were tight around my shoulders. Today had probably been the best day of my life, minus Natalie ogling my brother.

Vaughn stroked my hair tenderly and kissed the top of my head. I smiled and looked up at him as he kissed my mouth. I reached up and gently caressed his face. He smiled and held my hand against his cheek. I wanted to sleep with him but I wasn't sure how to bring up the subject.

I swallowed. Vaughn looked at me.

"Something on your mind, Mrs Davidson?"

I giggled. "That will take a while to get used to!"

Vaughn laughed with me. "We have a while," he said softly and then kissed me again. I kissed him back lovingly. I felt his tongue graze my teeth and opened my mouth, giving him permission to enter. My tongue curled around his easily.

When we eventually broke off, slightly breathless, Vaughn looked at me. "Anyway, are you going to tell me what's on your mind or not?"

How should I tell him? _I wanna sleep with you because I love you, I'm feeling horny, let's sleep together._

I fluttered my eyelashes at him and gently moved my hand along his chest and arms. Goddess, he was muscled.

"Vaughn…" I said softly. "You know it's our wedding night…?"

Vaughn looked at me as he realised what I wanted. "I'm tired," he said, abruptly.

"What?"

"Goodnight, Chelsea." He took my hand off his chest and rolled over in the bed, taking most of the duvet with him.

"Hey! Give us some back, it's freezing!" I complained, tugging at the small corner he had left me with.

Vaughn tossed me half the duvet but didn't say anything. Nor did he turn around.

"Vaughn?" I said. Worriedly now. He didn't move. Had I pissed him off? I had hadn't I? Oh great, way to go Chelsea, first night of your marriage and you have already pissed off your husband that's really-

"Chelsea?"

"What?"

"Are you still cold?"

"Um…yeah."

Vaughn suddenly turned over and put his arms around me, pulling me close to his chest. I smiled wildly and nuzzled into him.

"You sounded worried there," he said softly.

I nodded. "I thought I had pissed you off."

"You couldn't do that. I was just messing with you. Do you still want to have sex with me?"

I blushed. "Yes."

"Good."

"You mean you were joking about being tired?"

"Yep," Vaughn said. I smiled and then kissed him again.

"Are you a virgin?" I asked him.

"Yes," he replied. "You didn't get anything did you?"

I didn't want to think about sleeping with Mark right now. The doctor hadn't actually tested me for any STI's but Mark and I had both been virgins.

"We were both virgins," I said softly. Then, before he could say anything else, I pressed my lips to his. He kissed me back, getting more eager until he was lying on top of me. My hand slipped down his back towards his grey tracksuit bottoms. He pulled me closer to him and his hand went up my nightdress.

When our clothes were off, his eyes gently ran down my body. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world," he told me softly, caressing my cheek. I blushed and smiled as I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and brought his face down to mine so I could kiss him again.

We kissed with a passion, and I could feel part of him entering my body. I groaned with pleasure and my fingers knotted in his silver hair. I wanted him to be closer than me and I knew he wanted the same. His tongue gently grazed my earlobe and kissed my cheek again and again, slowly moving down to my neck.

I loved him so much; I wished that this night would never have to end.

But of course it was inevitable and we both needed sleep. Vaughn drew himself away from me and then we snuggled up next to each other again, not bothering to get redressed. I snuggled up to his chest and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders again, just as we had before we had sex.

Vaughn's lips brushed against my hair. "Goodnight, sweetheart," he whispered, and we fell asleep in each other's arms.

VAUGHN'S P. O. V.:

It was the late hours of the morning. I lay in bed, my arm around my wife's shoulders. She was still asleep, using my chest as a pillow. I was a little thirsty and she needed to work on the farm but I was in no hurry to get up.

Last night had been the best night of my life and I didn't want it to end but now I realized there would be many more nights to come which would be just as good. I had a friend, someone who had accepted me, someone who had shown me love, and someone who would stay by my side for the rest of our lives. And I finally had a place to call home.


	19. News

CHELSEA'S P. O. V:

I straightened up and wiped the sweat off my brow. I was picking my crops whilst playing Fetch with Rosie. My mind kept drifting away from what I was doing and my throws weren't as hard as usual. Why was I so weak? Vaughn kept saying I looked pale but I felt fine, just fatigued.

We had been married for almost a month now and it felt so nice coming home to my husband, having someone cook for me when I was tired, sleeping in his arms every night.

Rosie ran up to me with the ball in her mouth and dropped it by my feet. I picked it up and tried to throw it hard. My throw was so weak that Rosie caught it before it had even hit the ground. She looked at me as if to say "Is that it?". I groaned and ran my hands through my hair, yawning.

"Chelsea?" Vaughn was walking towards me.

"Hey," I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Vaughn asked, putting his arms around my shoulders. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder.

"I'm tired," I muttered.

Vaughn cupped my face in his hands and looked at me, then said: "I'll finish the work for you, go back inside and get some rest."

I sighed; "Thanks Vaughn" and he kissed my head.

I walked back inside the house and flopped onto the sofa. I was completely unenergetic which was weird. It had taken me an hour simply to pick some crops which was normally only about half an hour. I sighed and closed my eyes to rest them for a while…

When I woke up the light was coming in at a different angle as if I had slept through the day. I sat up slowly and realised I had been covered up with a blanket and a sofa cushion had been shoved under my head as a pillow. A glass of water had also been left on the coffee table. I knew it was Vaughn and his concern touched me and I felt a lump rise up in my throat. I wasn't normally this emotional, that was weird. I drank the water quickly to get rid of it.

"Vaughn?" I called.

Vaughn wandered into the living room. "Hey sleepy-head," he said, smiling softly.

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked, moving to make room for him to sit beside me.

"Well it's about half past four so…around seven or eight hours?" Vaughn sighed, "It was cold day without being able to kiss you."

I smiled and Vaughn sat down beside me and gave me a cuddle. "Hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah…now you come to mention it."

Vaughn made some pasta for the two of us. His cooking was seriously amazing. After I ate I decided to go and have a bath. The hot water felt nice. I yawned. Seriously, how could I _still_ be tired after sleeping all night and half the day? I had an early night.

When I woke up, Vaughn was sitting up in bed with his arms around my shoulders. I looked up at him and as I moved I suddenly felt a sick twisting in my gut. Vaughn looked down at me.

"Chels, you honestly don't look very well. I seriously think it's more than just exhaustion. Are you ok?"

"Excuse me!" I gasped, jumping up from the bed and running into the bathroom.

Vaughn followed me and then stood behind me and held my hair back whilst I threw up violently into the toilet. I coughed for a minute and then flushed it weakly. Then I turned to Vaughn. "You shouldn't have seen that," I muttered trying to push him away. He ignored me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me back to the bedroom.

We sat on the bed and I weakly laid my head by his shoulder. Vaughn held me for a while then he lifted my head up to look up at him.

"You've been looking under the weather for a while now. Especially today," he said softly, looking at me with such a raging concern all over his face. "I'll get a doctor. Sit tight, ok?"

"Hurry back," I groaned. Vaughn kissed my forehead and then got dressed and left.

He was gone for a while. I sat on the bed, trying to figure out what could be wrong with me. Up until now I had just been tired and my back hurt a bit. The nausea was fading. These symptoms were familiar. Hmm.

Vaughn returned with Dr Trent. I looked up as they came in and could have sworn I saw intuition flash in the doctor's dark eyes. Vaughn sat beside me and squeezed my shoulders. "How is Chelsea?" he asked Trent, anxiously.

The doctor felt my forehead and then started asking me questions. Like when was my last menstrual cycle. And how I felt after being sick. And had there been any noticeable changes in my diet. I reached for Vaughn's hand and he squeezed it gently.

When the doctor was done with the questions the ghost of intuition in his eyes turned real.

"There's nothing to worry about. You're not sick; you're pregnant!"

"We're gonna have a baby?" I gasped.

"Really? I'm gonna be a dad?" Vaughn spluttered.

"Congratulations you two!" Trent smiled.

"I never thought this day would come; me as a parent. Great, eh Chels?" Vaughn murmured wrapping his arms around my waist.

I fluttered my eyelashes at him. "I'm glad you said that," I smiled.

"Chelsea, where do you want to deliver the baby? You should stay in hospital in town for the delivery," Trent said, bringing me back to earth.

I swallowed, "Yeah…but I really want to have my baby on the island," I said.

Trent turned to Vaughn. "Is that alright with you Vaughn?"

"Whatever Chelsea wants. It's only her decision that matters here." I felt a massive rush of love.

"Alright then," Trent said. "When you go into labour, call me and I'll rush over immediately."

Oh great, labour.

"Thanks," Vaughn said.

Trent smiled, "No trouble at all," He said. Then he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Be sure not to strain yourself, ok? Now I should get going."

He left the room and we heard him shut the door. Neither of us said anything for a moment.

"Wow," I whispered. "I can't quite believe it."

"Neither can I," Vaughn muttered behind me. Then he sighed. "A kid, eh? I don't know…"

"What?" I gasped, turning round to face him. "But I thought you were happy about the baby?"

"I am. It's just that…" Vaughn took both of my hands in his and held them to his heart before looking at me straight in the eye. "I don't have any…good memories of my childhood. And I don't want my kid to feel the same way."

Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes. I put my arms around his neck and pulled his face down to my shoulder and hugged him. I could feel a tear fall onto my shoulder and I stroked his hair. "Vaughn, don't cry," I said gently. "It'll be ok. Trust me. They won't feel like that."

Vaughn wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck before slowly lifting his head up to me. I brushed the last tear off his face and he smiled softly.

"You'll be a good mother, Chels," he said.

I smiled. "Thanks. You'll be great too."

Vaughn's smile got bigger; he gently laid his hand on my stomach and kissed me again. I kissed him back until something came into my mind. I tensed. Vaughn pulled back.

"Are you OK? Do you feel sick again?"

"No. I just…can you promise me something?"

"Of course," Vaughn promised, mystified.

I swallowed. "I know that…you wouldn't…but I just…well…"

"Hey," Vaughn gently lifted my face to look up at him. "Chelsea, I would never do anything to harm our baby. Never."

I nodded. "I know that you wouldn't but still…"

Vaughn stroked my cheek. "Anyone with the same experience would feel the same," he said softly. "I wasn't finished kissing you, Chelsea."

I laughed and pressed my lips to his again.

When I got pregnant with Mark's baby I had felt scared and confused. When I was pregnant with Vaughn's baby I felt unbelievably happy. And I knew Vaughn would never make me lose it.

I loved him with all my heart.


	20. Names and Stars

It's the middle of winter and I am now at least five months pregnant. Vaughn and I agreed to wait until at least the first three months had passed (in case I actually did lose it) before we told everyone. Mirabelle and Julia had both squealed and given us rib-breaking hugs. Taro and his family were also very proud. On an island this small, rumours spread like the plague and for ages we couldn't go anywhere without somebody congratulating us or asking for an actual confirmation.

When I told my brother over the phone, he had actually cried. He was overjoyed at the prospect of being an uncle. He also told me that he had recently got himself a girlfriend.

I had had a scan at the hospital but we decided we didn't want to know what sex it was. I had also had several tests to check everything was progressing normally, which it was.

I was sitting on the sofa one Thursday morning, resting my feet on the coffee table. Rosie was next to me, her head in my lap. She wouldn't be able to get away with that for much longer though.

I was waiting for Vaughn to come home. I hadn't worked on the farm yet. I could still manage it but Vaughn preferred it if I stayed at home. I couldn't help smiling. Vaughn was so caring. It was hard for me to imagine the cold, anti-social guy he had been when we first met, even though he still acted like that sometimes.

At that moment, I heard him come through the front and into the living room. I looked at him and gave him a smile, which he returned. He sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulders, gently kissing my cheek as he did so. I rested my head against his shoulder.

"Are you OK?" he asked, running his fingers through my hair.

"Of course, you don't need to keep worrying."

"I can't help it," Vaughn said, blushing a little. I giggled and cuddled up to him a little bit more. Rosie moved with me, not wanting to be left out. I patted her head.

"Have you been working today?" Vaughn asked.

"No," I said, wondering how he would react if I had said yes.

"I'll do it later," Vaughn said, as I knew he would.

"Thanks."

"Oh, and I got an invitation from Mirabelle and Julia today. They were having a party for the starry night festival and said we were welcome to join."

"Hm. I had an invite from my brother if we wanted to spend starry night with _him_," I sighed. If I was totally honest, I didn't really want to go all the way out to the city. Much as I loved Jake, the idea of travelling for ages didn't appeal to me.

Luckily, Vaughn seemed to be reluctant as well.

"Actually Chels, I was wondering if we should just spend it together, just the two of us. I mean, seeing as it's our first one as a married couple. And you're probably not up to travelling all the way to your brothers flat. You won't be able to drink either."

"You know what?" I said, looking up at him. "That is a really good idea. And it will probably be our _last_ as a married couple." I indicated my baby bump. Vaughn laughed.

"We should probably start thinking about names soon," he said.

"If it's a girl, she's called Esmé," I said immediately. "I don't care what you say."

Vaughn looked surprised, but then he laughed. "How long have you liked that name?" he asked.

I thought about it. "Ever since I decided I wanted to have children."

"Fair enough. Do I get to pick if it's a boy?"

"Of course."

Vaughn thought. Then he said, "How about Jack?"

I spun the name around in my head. I liked it.

"Alright then," I agreed. "What about middle names? What were your parent's names?"

"Don't know my mum's name. My dad was called Skye: _my_ middle name."

I smiled. "Then if it's a boy, his middle name should be Vaughn."

Vaughn blushed. I giggled.

"OK then. Was your mum's name Jennifer?"

"No, that was my Nan. My mum was called Gwen."

"Then it should be Esmé Gwen Davidson."

Jack Vaughn Davidson. Esmé Gwen Davidson. "I like them," I smiled.

Vaughn kissed the top of my head. "I'm glad that was easy."

I suddenly felt a gentle nudge in my stomach. I smiled widely and then took Vaughn's hand and placed it against the spot on my stomach. He looked at me questioningly for a few seconds and then smiled softly when he felt the gentle nudge.

The movement made it feel all the more real.

A week later was the starry night festival. Mirabelle and Julia understood that we would want to be together and my brother appreciated that I wouldn't want to travel all the way to his house in the middle of the city.

Vaughn prepared a roast chicken with roast potatoes, peas and broccoli, but no carrots. He kept me company and didn't get any wine, drinking diet coke. I appreciated that.

After we ate, I thought we would just watch stars from round the back of the house. But Vaughn took my hand and said "Let's go for a walk."

"Where?" I asked.

Vaughn shrugged. Then he smiled a little. "I know where we can go."

We walked out of the house and down into the town. I thought we would go to the beach or the meadow, one of the places we usually went before we got married. But Vaughn tugged at my hand and led me in the direction of the forest.

"Vaughn where are we actually going?"

"You'll see."

Vaughn negotiated our way through the forest. I was impressed at the way he could tell where we were going. The only light was the moon and, although it was very bright tonight, it was mainly blocked by the trees.

Once we had made our way through the forest we started walking up the mountain. What the _hell _was he thinking? He wouldn't let me work on the farm in the mornings but now he found it perfectly fine to drag me up a mountain at half past nine at night?

"Vaughn, are we nearly there?" I complained, putting my hand over my stomach.

"Not long now," Vaughn said. I sure hoped he was right.

Mercifully the mountain wasn't too tall or impossible to climb. Then we had reached the top. I gasped.

The sky was covered in stars. I had never seen so many stars in my life. They were so clear, some were brighter than others.

It was also very cold at the summit of the mountain. I shivered. Vaughn wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"Cold, Chelsea?" he asked, softly.

"A little," I admitted. Vaughn rubbed my arms, trying to warm me up a little.

"It's very cold," Vaughn agreed. "So was the trek up here worth it?"

"Definitely," I agreed, still amazed at all the stars.

Vaughn rested his chin on the top of my head as we watched them.

After about ten minutes, I really couldn't ignore the cold anymore. I wanted to stay up here but I wasn't doing me—or the baby—any favours by standing on the mountain summit. I took Vaughn's hand.

"Your hands are_ freezing,"_ Vaughn said, taking mine in both of his. "We should go."

We walked carefully down the mountain and back to our house. I was tired by this time.

Vaughn and I went back into our bedroom and changed into our pyjama's. Just before we climbed into bed I hugged Vaughn as close as I could and whispered, "Tonight's festival was nice."

"It was," he agreed, and kissed my lips sweetly.

We climbed back into our soft, warm bed. Vaughn put his arm around me and pulled the covers tightly around us.

"Good night Vaughn."

"Sleep well Chels."


	21. Esmé

Vaughn's P. O.V:

More months passed. Chelsea's stomach was really big now; it was getting hard for her to actually get out of bed. Dr Trent checked up on her every two weeks to make sure everything was progressing normally, which apparently it was.

I was still nervous though. It wasn't because I was still worried that my kid would have a crappy childhood; Chelsea had reassured me it would be fine.

I was worried about Chelsea herself. My mother had died whilst giving birth to me and now I was afraid of that happening to Chelsea. I knew that Chelsea would be better looked after than my mother (who gave birth round the back of a Chinese takeaway shop) but it still hurt me to think about it. And I got more and more anxious as the days went by.

So you can probably imagine the heart attack I got when Chelsea roughly shook me awake in the middle of the night towards the end of spring.

"Vaughn." Her voice was strained. I sat up, my heart pounding.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I'm going into labour."

For one second I had absolutely no clue what to do. But then I remembered at least one important thing.

"OK. Hang in there, Chels. I'll call the doctor."

She nodded grimly. I quickly hopped out of bed and rushed to the phone where I hurriedly dialled the doctor's number. He seemed moody at first.

"Who is this? It's one in the morning!"

"It's me, Vaughn. Chelsea's gone into labour."

"Oh," Trent didn't seem moody anymore. "Alright, I'll come straight over. Keep calm."

The call ended. "Vaughn!" Chelsea groaned.

"I'm coming Chels!" I called up to her. Then I had an idea.

I dashed into the kitchen and took out a pint glass from the cupboard. Then I opened up the freezer, opened the tray of ice cubes and filled the glass with ice. Then I carefully took it back to the bedroom.

I put on the bedside table and then sat beside Chelsea and held her hand.

"What's with the glass of ice?" She asked me.

"You'll see," I told her. "Actually, do you want Mirabelle or Felicia over here?"

Chelsea nodded. "Get both."

Instead of leaving Chelsea to get to the landline, I switched on my mobile. I called Mirabelle first. Like the doctor she sounded annoyed but when I told her what was happening she promised to come straight over. Felicia said she was coming before I could even get the full sentence out of my mouth.

Chelsea moaned loudly, and gripped my hand hard. A light sweat was beginning to break out on her forehead. I took the glass of ice and gently pressed it to her face until she stopped moaning. Then she gave me a weak smile.

"Thanks."

At that moment their doorbell rang loudly.

"It's probably Mirabelle and Felicia," I said, kissing Chelsea's head. "I'll get it."

It was them. Felicia went straight to the bedroom. Mirabelle squeezed my hand and then said "By the way Vaughn, when a woman is in labour her tolerance levels will plummet." I wondered what she meant but I nodded and then we went back to the bedroom. I sat beside Chelsea and held her hand tightly. She gripped it hard.

When the doctor came about an hour later, instead of having me leave Chelsea again, Felicia answered the door. He came in the room looking all business-like, even though it was about two in the morning.

He'd even brought some kind of hospital gown for Chelsea to change into. When she was wearing it, she lay on the bed.

"Chelsea, because we're not at the hospital, I can't give you any pain relief," Trent told her, looking slightly anxious.

Chelsea swore loudly. "Oh, _now_ you tell me," she growled. I suddenly realised what Mirabelle had meant earlier.

The contractions seemed to be coming more and more now. Chelsea was gripping my hand harder than ever.

After what felt like an eternity Trent looked up at us and told Chelsea to start pushing.

Chelsea screamed out as she pushed. She wouldn't let go of my hand. I didn't tell her to let go either, even though it was actually really beginning to hurt now. Every so often I would gently press the glass of ice (half of it now water) against her face. I held her hand against my forehead so my view to the doctor was blocked. I couldn't stand the sight of blood.

"Come on Chelsea, you can do it! One more push!" Trent encouraged her. My heart fluttered a little. It was nearly over.

Chelsea groaned and I could have sworn she was breaking my hand. Crikey, this woman was strong.

Then the cry of a newborn child filled the room, as clear as a bell.

"Congratulations! It's a girl!" Trent smiled. I think he held her up so we could see, but I still couldn't look. I had been doing well but I reckoned if I looked at a one second old baby I probably would throw up.

A weak smile spread across Chelsea's face and she finally loosened her death-like grip on my hand. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Wow, it was half past ten. I dared a quick glance in the doctor's direction. He had clamped the cord and was handing the baby to Mirabelle and Julia.

Whilst he waited or something called the placenta to come out, I gently wrapped my arm around Chelsea's shoulders and propped her up a little with pillows. Then I hugged her gently and kissed the top of her head.

"You did so well, sweetheart. I'm_ so_ proud of you," I whispered in her ear softly. She smiled. She didn't speak; she was completely out of breath to talk.

"Vaughn, do you want me to take a look at your hand?" Dr Trent asked me. He must have seen pain on my face.

Keeping my eyes only on him, I moved closer to the end of the bed and showed it to him, wincing as he moved his fingers along the bones.

"It's ok, it's just bruised," Trent told me and I slid back to Chelsea.

She looked anxious. "Vaughn, I'm so sorry," she said, looking up at me with her ice-blue eyes.

I put my arm round her and kissed her gently. "Don't worry about it Chels, you couldn't help it."

She smiled at me. Even though her face was red and covered in sweat, her hair was a mess and she was breathing heavily, I still thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

"OK Chelsea, you can sit up now," Trent said to her. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and helped her into a sitting position.

Mirabelle came over to us and gently laid a bundle of blankets in Chelsea's arms. Chelsea gently moved the blankets away from the baby's face, smiling widely.

The very first thing I noticed was that her eyes were the exact same pale violet as mine.

She had stopped crying now and was gazing up at us. I stroked Chelsea's hair lovingly.

Trent took a pen and a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "Have you picked out a name for her?" he asked.

"Esmé Gwen Davidson," Chelsea nodded.

"Nice name," Felicia complimented us. I smiled up at her and Mirabelle, who had a tear leaking out of the corner of her eye.

Trent unfolded the paper and leaned on the bedside table to write the name. When he was finished he packed up the rest of his medical equipment.

"Well, I should be off now," he said. "Congratulations again, guys."

"Same here," Felicia nodded, smiling widely.

"Yep," Mirabelle nodded, dabbing at her eye. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Acting on a whim, I stood up from the bed and gave Mirabelle a tight hug. She hugged me back. "Thanks," I whispered in her ear, though I wasn't entirely sure why I was thanking her.

"You're welcome," Mirabelle smiled and she kissed my cheek gently, before she left.

I sat on the bed again beside Chelsea. She was gently cuddling the baby in her arms. She rested her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her.

"She's my baby too," I said after a while. "Don't I get to hold her?"

Chelsea giggled and then rested Esmé in my arms. I smiled as I took her.

She felt so tiny and fragile. I suddenly wondered how my father left me. I had hated him for leaving me less since I had dreamed of my mum when I got stabbed.

Even so, as Esmé rested in my arms, I realised that even if Chelsea _had _died, there was no way I could just kill myself and leave the baby alone with no parents. No way.

Not in this lifetime.


	22. 3 years later

**Author's note: OK people, this is the last chapter! *sniff* I know, it's been fun. I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed, particularly Cherry3456 who reviewed virtually every chapter since the beginning and Xealvi who reviewed, made me laugh and gave me advice (and on deviantArt as well). HUGS TO EVERYONE! XD**

**So yeah, here it is: the last chapter. Enjoy!**

Vaughn's P. O. V.:

_3 years later_

I walked up the small hill to the house. It was late Thursday morning and I had just finished my shift at the animal shop. It was the beginning of summer and the sun felt good on my skin. Even though I still dressed like a cowboy, the heat didn't bother me.

"Daddy!"

I looked up and then smiled. My three year old daughter Esmé was running towards me. I held my arms out to her and she ran into them. I picked her up and gave her a hug, kissing her cheek as I did so.

She rested her head on my shoulder.

"I missed you," she said happily.

I smiled. "I missed you too."

I carried her back to the house where Chelsea was standing by the door, smiling. I set the baby on the ground and she skipped into the living room, singing to herself.

I embraced my wife tightly and she whispered "Welcome home" in my ear. I lifted her chin up and then kissed her lips softly.

"Have you done the farm work yet?" I asked her.

Chelsea shook her head. "I was going to wait until you came home so I wouldn't have to ask anyone over to watch Esmé." Chelsea knew that Esmé wouldn't be in any danger if she took her with her to work on the farm but she preferred it if Esmé stayed at home.

"The captain reckons that there'll be a massive storm tonight," I told her. "You might want to prepare the animals."

Chelsea grimaced and nodded. "I'll go do that now," she said. "I'll only be a couple of hours."

She pecked my cheek softly and then started walking towards the crop field. I watched her go, smiling to myself before walking inside the house. It felt good to be home again.

I wandered into the living room where Esmé was lying on the floor, doodling on a piece of paper. I wasn't really watching where I was going.

"No! Daddy, stop!" Esmé squealed suddenly.

I glanced down and realised I had been about to step on some of her crayons.

"Sorry, baby," I said, putting my foot down on a clear part of the carpet. I knelt down beside her and looked at the paper. "What are you drawing?"

Esmé showed me her drawing. "Me and you and Mummy playing wis Wosie," she said, smiling up at me. A three year olds version of a family of three and a dog were on the paper. I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"That's pretty good," I told her, even though I could hardly make it out.

I sat on the sofa beside her. Rosie padded into the room. When she saw me home she let out a happy bark and then jumped up onto the sofa behind me. I smiled and tickled her ears. She ran her tongue along my hand then lay next to me, resting her head on my leg.

Esmé finished her drawing and then pulled herself up onto the sofa with us. I wrapped my arms around her and then pulled her onto my other leg. She smiled and snuggled into my chest, sucking her thumb.

"Where's Mummy gone?" she asked me, a little while later.

"She had to work. She'll be back in a couple of hours," I reassured her. "What did you do yesterday?"

Esmé smiled widely. "Me and Mummy went to see Kelly and Auntie Julia."

I smiled to myself. Esmé's "cousin" Kelly had been born nine months after Esmé had. Julia had found out she was pregnant the day Esmé was born. As you can imagine Mirabelle was on top of the world. Anyway, Kelly was three in two months. She and Esmé got on so well.

I stroked Esmé's hair tenderly. She smiled, nuzzling into my chest.

"You want to go for a walk?" I asked her.

Esmé thought about it. "Wis Mummy?" she asked.

"Of course," I said. I took Esmé out for walks quite often in the summer and she loved it when Chelsea got to join us.

Esmé smiled. "Kay."

Esmé stayed on my lap for a while longer, gently stroking the dog. When Rosie hopped off the sofa and padded off somewhere else, I read to Esmé and then she started playing with a toy in the corner of the room.

I heard the front door open and shut and Chelsea walked into the living room.

"I'm home."

"Mummy!" Esmé squealed. She immediately ran over to her and hugged her leg. "Mummy! Going out wis me!"

"What?" Chelsea asked, looking at me.

I smirked and then walked over to the two of them.

"You're home. I was gonna take the baby out but she wanted you to come too."

"Please Mummy?" Esmé said, looking up at Chelsea with sparkling violet eyes.

Chelsea smiled and gave the baby a hug. "Sure thing!"

I smirked. Chelsea was a sucker for the puppy dog eyes. And actually, so was I. We needed to man up.

Esmé squealed excitedly. Chelsea and I took her hands and we walked out the house.

We ended up on the beach. I let go of Esmé's hand so she could run around.

"Don't go out too far," Chelsea warned her as she also let go of her hand.

Esmé happily ran down to the edge of the sea. Chelsea and I watched her as the tide kept chasing her up the beach.

I wrapped my arms around Chelsea's waist and pulled her close. She rested her head on my chest, her arms around my waist.

"It's been a while since we got to relax like this," I said softly.

Chelsea nodded. "The baby's happy. I'm glad we did this."

"So am I," I nodded, kissing the top of her head.

Esmé turned to look at us and looked a little disappointed when she saw we weren't immediately behind her.

"Daddy! Mummy!" she squealed and rushed up us. She tugged my hand excitedly. "Come over here! The water's cold!"

I smiled and took her hand. "Yeah, we're coming."

Chelsea laughed as we walked down to the edge of the sea together.

We played in the spray with Esmé for hours. Just this once I didn't care if we got our clothes wet.

That night we put the baby to bed and then went to bed ourselves.

I was woken suddenly by a flash of lightening and a crash of thunder. So the boat captain had been right about the storm then. I glanced beside me and noticed it had woken Chelsea too. She snuggled into my chest and I put my arms around her.

"It must be right over our heads," Chelsea murmured. I nodded. Then we heard a crying sound from the next room. I sat up.

"I'll check on her," I said, climbing out of bed.

"If she's scared, let her sleep with us," Chelsea told me as I walked onto the landing and then into Esmé's bedroom.

She was lying in the bed, her face buried in one of her teddy bears, hands over her ears. I sat on her bed and put my hand on her shoulder, shaking her softly to make her look up at me.

"Daddy?" she whispered.

"Hey," I said gently. She sat up and I lifted her onto my lap. She cuddled into my chest and I rubbed her back to calm her down.

"It's scary," she said softly.

"I know," I said. "It's ok baby. It can't hurt you."

"But it's still scary."

I stood up with her still in my arms. "You can sleep in our bed tonight."

"Really?" Esmé squeaked. I nodded and carried her back to our bedroom.

Chelsea sat up when we came in. Esmé reached out to her and I handed her to Chelsea. They hugged each other tightly.

"I'm scared, Mama," Esmé said to her. She called Chelsea "Mama" when she wanted comforting.

Chelsea kissed her forehead and gently laid her down in the middle of the bed. I slid in beside them.

Esmé cuddled up to the two of us, burying her head in Chelsea's chest whenever the thunder rumbled. Chelsea whispered words of comfort in her ear.

I contemplated something.

I wasn't the same cold, antisocial cowboy I was when I first came here. I had someone who loved me and wanted to be with me. Chelsea's dad was in prison. Chelsea was alive and well. Our daughter was healthy and happy. I wasn't abusive towards either of them.

The shadows of the past couldn't hurt us anymore.


End file.
